Voluntary teachers want absorption into state civil service

Voluntary teachers in  Lagos State have appealed to the government to absorb them into the mainstream civil service as it plans to recruit fresh civil servants, including teachers. 

The teachers serving under the Voluntary Teachers Scheme, VTS, yesterday made their stance known at the Lagos State House of Assembly, where they urged lawmakers to prevail on the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to consider their six years of service,   as voluntary teachers, with monthly stipends of N15,000, as a parameter that qualifies them for full-time employment with the state government. 

One of the teachers, Sunday Dada, said; “We want the state government to look into our case and give our members  a chance during the current recruitment. 

Addressing the group, the Majority Leader, Sanai Agunbiade and the Chairman, House Committee on Education, Lanre Ogunyemi, assured the protesters of the House’s support in  pushing their request to the appropriate quarters. 

While promising to look into the protesters’ plight, the lawmakers said they can not guarantee that their requests would be met by the  government. 

Lagos to engage technical graduates 

Meantime, the state government has said that it would engage graduates of its technical colleges in a ‘Maintenance Gang’ initiative to be unveiled in August this year for maintenance and renovation works of public schools across the State. 

The State Deputy Governor, Dr. (Mrs) Idiat Adebule made this known yesterday at the graduation ceremony of NECA-ITF Technical Skills Development Project for Students of Government Technical College, Ikorodu at NECA Auditorium, Alausa Ikeja. 

She also used the occasion to advocate more support from successful entrepreneurs and business moguls in bridging the large skills deficiency gap. 

Also speaking, the Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mr. Babatunde Durosinmi Etti, urged the graduands to translate the knowledge acquired into reality by harnessing opportunities available to them in the competitive world of business. 

The Director-General of NECA, Mr Olusegun Oshinowo described the graduands as individuals with ‘double edged sword’ who have been trained as skilled individuals as well as entrepreneurs.