Candidates Raise Concern Over Delay In Osun Teachers’ Recruitment

Some of the candidates who applied for recruitment into the teaching service in Osun State have lamented the delay in their employment after completing all the processes.

It would be recalled that the state Executive Council on February 16, 2024, approved the recruitment of 5,000 teachers and 250 education officers to serve in both primary and secondary schools.

However, the candidates have yet to resume work more than 16 months later.

According to the candidates, the government has remained silent on the process since they were interviewed between September 9 and 13, 2024.

Since the interview, none of the successful candidates has been issued an appointment letter.

Some of the candidates, who spoke with Punch correspondents on condition of anonymity, accused the government of “unholy silence.”

“The government has not said anything about the recruitment exercise since our interview. We have been on this matter for over a year and we don’t know the governor’s plan. This is disturbing,” said one of the applicants, who resides in Osogbo, the state capital.

Another applicant, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, claimed some PDP leaders had attempted to persuade Adeleke to authorise the release of appointment letters to the successful candidates, but their efforts were unsuccessful.

“The feedback we got from our leaders who spoke with Mr Governor on the teachers’ recruitment is that something is delaying it. They never told us what that thing is. We are tired; some of us are seriously expecting the appointment,” the candidate said.

Commenting on the development, a civil rights activist and Executive Director of the Centre for Responsive Governance, Ayodeji Ologun, criticised the government for the delay, describing it as irresponsible.

He urged the government to employ the successful candidates to address the shortage of teachers in public schools.

Ologun said, “It is evil and amounts to obtaining by fraud on the part of the state government that job seekers paid to access a job opportunity and have seen no result in over a year.

“It is irresponsible of the Osun State Government that since January 7, 2024, when the State Executive Council approved the recruitment, it has not materialised a year and a half later. Meanwhile, other states like Oyo and Ondo , which commenced similar recruitment, have since concluded the process and the teachers have resumed duty.

“The government should prioritise the issuance of appointment letters to those already shortlisted and fill the existing vacancies, rather than making excuses and empty promises.”

He added that recruiting qualified teachers was essential for maintaining educational standards and ensuring students receive the necessary knowledge and skills, lamenting that the delay in issuing appointment letters to shortlisted candidates was worrisome.

The Commissioner for Education in the state, Dipo Eluwole, declined to comment when asked about the reason for the delay.

“I’m sorry, I can’t attend to that on the phone,” Eluwole told Punch correspondent when asked, “What are the challenges responsible for the delay in the teachers’ recruitment?”

However, the Chairman of the State Teaching Service Commission, Tope Mustapha, blamed the delay on the crisis over the control of local government councils between the All Progressives Congress and the PDP-led government.

“Letters would have been issued to the successful candidates but for the invasion of the local government councils by APC members, who have brought local government administration to a halt in the state,” he said in a telephone interview with our correspondent.