The leadership of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) yesterday berated Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke for deploying 1,750 untrained youth as teachers.
The Nation recalls that Adeleke approved deployment of 1,750 Imole Youth Corps to schools due to financial constraints that delay planned mass teachers’ recruitment to primary and secondary schools across the state.
NANS Southwest (Zone D) through its Secretary General, Comrade Oluwole Aboke, in a statement expressed disappointment for converting a temporary civic engagement initiative into teachers’ recruitment.
He said the decision undermined the integrity of teaching profession.
Aboke added: “Teaching profession requires passion, proper training, certification and ongoing professional development, none of which were the original prerequisites for Imole Youth Corps.
“The failed teachers’ recruitment exercise remains a painful betrayal. Thousands of qualified young graduates paid to apply for the previously advertised Osun teachers’ recruitment, went through screening processes, and waited in high hopes, only to be ignored and replaced with a politically-motivated scheme.”
He admonished that “government must prioritise proper recruitment, not political redeployment. Education cannot and should not be compromised.”
NANS demanded that the Adeleke-led administration should immediately begin transparent recruitment of qualified and certified teachers through a merit-based process, not patronage or political convenience.
“We will not stand idle. We call on education stakeholders, parents, professional education bodies and civil society groups to join us in rejecting any shortcuts that undermine the value of education. Osun students will not be guinea pigs in the name of cost-saving measures.”
