Students on teaching practice and corps members in Bauchi State have taken over teaching in secondary schools following the indefinite strike embarked upon by teachers across the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the teachers, under the auspicious of the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS), began strike last week demanding the removal of the State Commissioner for Education, among others.
Talatu Ahmed, the Principal, Government Girls Secondary School, Bauchi, told NAN that a few permanent teachers of the school who had earlier reported for work deserted the classrooms.
?“Some of the teachers reported but decided to leave without signing; I think two of them signed and may be because of comments from their colleagues, they decided to strike out their names.
“I saw some of them reading the court injunction and decided to leave; but the teaching practice teachers are in the classrooms teaching the students.
“Not all the classes have teachers; most of the classes are being attended to by the NYSC and the teaching practice teachers but not the permanent staff.
“We are using our teaching practice students and some of our staff to supervise the NECO exams.”
The Director-General of the state’s Ministry of Education, Alhaji Saleh Hassan, on his part, blamed the striking teachers for not obeying a court injunction obtained by the state government to prevent them from embarking on the strike.
?“I think teachers are supposed to teach people how to live in the society; but if violating a court directive will come from a teacher, I don’t know who will comply.
“In most of the schools we visited, 50 to 70 per cent of the teachers were in their classes, with the exception of a few and we don’t know what will happen as we move further.
“But I hope it is not going to be like this; I wish the teachers would think about their position in the society and comply with the court injunction.
“All the grievances they are talking about, do not call for a strike action at all; it is not beyond dialogue.”
Also speaking with NAN, the State Chairman of ASUSS, Abdullahi Tanko said his members had no choice but to comply with the call for strike.
He, however, urged parents and students to bear with the academic staff of secondary schools in the state.
?“As far as we are concerned, there was compliance from our members, and you find that in some places where you saw teachers, they were there to peruse through our circular which we sent, attaching some of our write ups so that at least they can have evidence.
“It (the strike) is indefinite until we are heard; when they call us, we are ready; our door is open, but it should be understood that our number one demand is for the commissioner to be dropped.
“But where the governor or the government feels that it still wants to go along with him, we want him to be removed from the Ministry of Education.
“I am just hearing about the court order from you; I don’t know of the court order; nobody served me with a court order; I am just hearing it from you.
“Permit me to use this opportunity to plead with parents and the students to be patient.
“It is not our wish to close down schools, but circumstances forced us to. These children are our own; they are our own brothers and sisters; they are our own sons and daughters; and we are doing what we are doing to make their future brighter because we cannot continue to give them half education only to build hooligans in the future.”