AbdulRazaq tells teachers “your reward is in Heaven” no longer tenable in Kwara

The Kwara state governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq today visited LGEA Primary school Gbaradogi, Patigi local government, a school the community claims always shuts down any day rain falls.

The school, which has only six teachers -with two from the federal government Npower scheme- is greatly under staffed as instances of a teacher teaching more than four classes and more than three subjects is the only means they have devised to keep the few students left learning despite lack of salaries and necessary motivations from the government.

The head teacher, Alhassan Jibril, while explaining the challenges of the school tagged it a “Peculiar Mess” extremely different from any problem the governor might have seen in schools in Patigi local government. He lamented that the school shuts down any day it rains because their classrooms have no roofs that can withstand any downpour.

Jibril, while explaining their plight to the governor, reiterated his wish to contribute his quota to the growth of his state but the government, through SUBEB’s failure to pay their salaries have made life difficult for even the few teachers left. He however asked the governor to look into reasons why SUBEB has no project in the school despite knowing that they only have two classrooms consisting of two to three classes merged together just to keep the school running.

Governor AbdulRazaq promised to uphold the principle of prompt salary payments to motivate the teachers. He also said he would intensify efforts to ensure Kwara state also benefits from the federal government school feeding scheme, although he would learn from the experience of Kaduna state where students only come to eat in the morning only to leave school, which defeats the purpose of the scheme.

The governor, while addressing all issues raised by the Head teacher, emphasized that the reward of teachers being in heaven is not tenable in Kwara henceforth because their role in nation building can’t be overemphasized. AbdulRazaq promised to take care of the issues of lack of toilets, furnitures among others needed for conducive learning.