By PATRICK ABANG, Calabar –
Cross River State Commissioner for Education, Stephen Odey, has debunked claims in some quarters that the list of state indigenes submitted by school principals was padded .
The Commissioner stated this on Monday during a press conference in his office in Calabar, the state’s capital.
Mr. Odey said the Cross River State Governor, Bassey Otu, has volunteered to pay for all indigenous students of senior secondary school writing the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE)
In line with the directives from the Governor, some principals submitted list of both indigenous and non indigenes, while some submitted duplications of names leading to the commissioner setting up a disciplinary committee.
The Committee found out that 31 principals were culpable and should be suspended and six were exonerated from the offence.
Odey also promised to clampdown on all illegal schools operated by people who do not have the capacity to run schools in the state.
“We will go after them, we will closed them down because they don’t have the capacity to run schools”
He said due to the lean resources available to the state government and because of the shortage of teachers, he has seek approval of the Governor for the employment of 6,000 teachers across the state
He said his mission in the Ministry of Education is to identify the problem and proffer solution to it.
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