The Zamfara Teachers Service Board said the recent disengagement of the 109 contract teachers by the state government was not based on ethnic, tribal or religious reasons.
The Chairman of the board, Alhaji Muhammad Aliyu-Anka, stated this while speaking to newsmen in Gusau on Friday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the state government recently announced the dismissal of 109 contracted teachers over failure to abide by the government contract policy.
“You know, the disengagement of the teachers was not on ethnic, religious or tribal reasons, it was for the interest of the state.
“You know Governor Dauda Lawal declared a state of emergency on the state's education sector.
“The state government embarked on massive infrastructural investment in education across the state,” Aliyu-Anka said
He said that providing qualified and regular teachers was necessary to achieve the government’s policy.
He said that some of the teachers had abandoned their contracts and they were teaching at private schools while still collecting salaries from the government.
Aliyu-Anka said, “The board recommended the termination of the contracts of teachers who did not abide by the rules and regulations of the state.
“Many of the disengaged teachers were not attending schools to teach, leaving volunteers to teach the pupils.”
The chairman stated that the volunteer teachers were more qualified and they were not receiving salaries from the state government.
He said, ”Considering the roles played by the volunteers in our schools, the state government plans to recruit 2000 teachers to fill the gaps by the disengaged teachers.”