…orders redeployment of 1,300 admin staff
The newly appointed Chairman of the Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB), Dr. Kassim Muhammad Kassim, has revealed widespread diversion of government-provided school furniture by education secretaries and headteachers across the state.
Dr. Kassim disclosed that furniture meant for public primary schools is being illegally diverted and sold to private schools and even private homes for monetary gain.
He expressed dismay that while pupils in public schools are forced to sit on bare floors, officials entrusted with managing education in the state are profiting from the misappropriation of essential learning materials.
“It is unacceptable for our children to sit on the floor in classrooms while education secretaries and headmasters divert government-supplied furniture to private schools and homes. I have visited several schools myself and seen this firsthand, despite records showing that furniture had been delivered to them. I will not tolerate this under my watch,” he stated.
To address the issue, Dr. Kassim announced that he would collaborate with the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of operations to inspect suspected private schools and residences.
He said that any location found with NSUBEB-branded furniture will be investigated, and those in possession will be compelled to reveal their suppliers.
During a meeting held on Wednesday in his office with education secretaries from all 13 local government areas and 18 development areas in the state, the chairman further disclosed that investigations have already uncovered NSUBEB furniture in private residences.
He has since ordered the arrest and detention of individuals found with such items to determine how they obtained them.
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In a major administrative shake-up, Dr. Kassim also directed the immediate redeployment of 1,300 administrative staff out of the 3,422 currently serving across the state.
He instructed that all administrative personnel with teaching qualifications be returned to classrooms, especially in rural areas suffering from severe teacher shortages.
“There’s no justification for the government to be short of teachers while qualified personnel are stockpiled in administrative roles,” he said. “We cannot have an army of supervisors when rural schools lack even a single teacher. What exactly are they supervising?”
The NSUBEB chairman emphasized that his administration would not condone inefficiency or mismanagement and vowed to restore integrity and functionality to the state’s basic education system.
On recruitment, the chairman explained that he has received approval from the Governor to recruit 4,800 qualified teachers in the primary schools, and revealed that his recruitment is tagged “Recruitment of Teachers in Rural Areas”.
He said that those applying should be prepared to go to the rural areas, adding that no single teacher newly recruited will be posted to urban areas, noting that his agenda is to revive rural schools and make it attractive to parents of boat communities to send their children.
Dr Kassim told the education secretaries that it’s not going to be business as usual, and that the board under him will focus on rural schools to ensure that they are well equipped.
He explained further that no education secretary should made illegal deductions of their teachers salaries except on disciplinary grounds which the board must be aware, adding the the salaries of teachers are not much and illegal and unnecessary deductions should stop immediately and any ES who disobey this order will his/her self to blame.
The new NSUBEB boss said he was appointed by the Governor to change the narrative in the education sub-sector and he is more than determined to achieve his mandate even if it means stepping on people’s toes.
Dr Kassim also directed the ES not to allocate any school land to small business ventures except with the permission of the board, adding that some people have started claiming school lands on that basis.
He promised to create maintenance unit in each local government to protect and safeguard SUBEB properties, vowing to revoked any contract poorly done or have that contractors money withheld until a standard work is done
“We can’t renovate a particular school this year and get same structures renovated next year, it’s means something is wrong with the work done by the first contractor, we can’t pay any contractor until we are fully satisfied with the quality of work”. Dr Kassim said