Beneficiaries of the 2018 Federal Teachers Scheme (FTS) have presented a leadership award to Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade and an award of service to the Executive Chairman, Cross River State Universal Basic Education Board (CR-SUBEB), Stephen Odey.
The awards which were presented at the Conference hall of SUBEB, Calabar, were in recognition of their contributions to the growth of basic education in the State and support to the FTS Cross River 2018 batch.
EduCeleb.com reports that the FTS, is an intervention by the federal government to address the teacher deficit in schools across the country.
It is a two-year teaching programme funded through the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
Receiving the award on behalf of the Governor, Dr Odey thanked participants for the gesture which he said will serve as a motivation to the administration in its strive for excellence in the education sector.
Applauding participants for their show of love, unity and commitment to duty, Odey said, “your ability to come together to demonstrate oneness and your willingness to serve this State is something I take seriously. I must commend you for the love and unity amongst yourselves and of course extending that friendship to the Board.”
“As some of you know I have been a teacher, so I take the teaching profession very seriously, which is why we embarked on a personnel audit exercise to ensure that we get the best for the state. For those who know me, I am a no nonsense person when it comes to doing your work, I always go for the best and I reward hard work. I do not do things based on sentiments or to impress anyone, I always tell people that I will prefer to be called a bad man for doing the right thing, than a good man for doing the wrong thing.”
The SUBEB Boss informed them of the Governor’s vision of improving the standard of education in the State through the on-going construction of the West African Teachers Continuous Training Institute in Biase and the British-Canadian International School in Obudu, which he said will offer employment opportunities to Cross Riverians upon completion and advised them to take advantage of such opportunities when they present themselves.
In his words, “The good news is that we are working day and night to commence academic activities at the West African Teachers Continuous Training Institute in Biase, and we are also striving to commence academic activities by September at the British-Canadian International School. So these are two potential institutions that will offer employment opportunities to Cross Riverians, when we advertise do not hesitate to send in your applications.”
He assured his guests that the Board under his leadership runs an open door policy and ensures transparency in all its dealings.
“On a daily basis we receive death cases, retirement cases and so on, but as a Board we do not do replacement. If we want to employ, we will announce it so that those who are capable and qualified will apply, it has to be competitive. Feel free to contact us when there are opportunities, we do not collect money for employment purposes. Since the current management of SUBEB came on board, no money is collected from any teacher or contractor. We are not here for money making, but to render service to Cross Riverians and improve basic education in the state and the nation in general.”
He frowned on the use of fake certificates and maintained that the Board will always go after fraudsters in order to ensure that education remains the center of excellence.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Director of Administration CR-SUBEB, Emmanuel Ojong, thanked participants for carrying out their duties diligently within the two year period of engagement.
Mr Ojong disclosed that the Board had recently employed 2500 teaching and non-teaching staff to fill vacancies created by retirement and dearth cases.
Mr Ojong said “From the details of the scheme you are expected to be on internship for a 2-year period, which you have just concluded and after that, if there is need to engage you further as a state the necessary procedures will follow. You are aware that we just recently embarked on recruitment to fill the gaps that we had, I know that the gaps are always there as people retire. From what you have exhibited, this set will be an asset to the state government.”
He urged participants to remain resourceful and continue in the spirit of dedication wherever they find themselves in the future.
Speaking earlier, the Coordinator, FTS 2018 Participants, Uwase Uwase, thanked the Board and the State government for their support during the course of the programme.
He noted that the visit was to show their appreciation and also congratulate the Board Chairman on his re-appointment.
Uwase said, “we were happy when we heard of your re-appointment as the SUBEB Chairman, by Governor Ben Ayade. Your re-appointment did not come as a surprise to us, it was borne out of your dedication, hardwork, tenancity, discipline in terms of administration and everything that is going on in our schools.”
He commended the Board Chairman for his outstanding leadership quality and his passion for the basic education sector which he said was evident in the numerous achievements of the Board.
“We have noticed a whole lot of reforms in the state and that is courtesy of what you have been able to do, especially in our schools, we have witnessed massive infrastructural development, supply of furniture and so on. In your recent recruitment we saw a very transparent process that was different from anything else in the Country. We say thank you very much for setting the pace and setting a good blueprint for us as the younger generation to come and inherit.”
Uwase also sought employment opportunities into the State teaching service from the government.
