The Adamawa State House of Assembly Standing Committee on Education has warned teachers in government schools to desist from skipping classes or face sanctions.
The chairman of the committee and member representing Uba-Gaya constituency, Adun Alaba, spoke against recurring allegations that teachers in government primary and secondary schools across the state absent themselves from duty without due authorisation.
The complaint by concerned observers is usually that such teachers cheat their pupils and students and defraud the government by collecting salaries and not doing their work.
Addressing the issue, Adun Alaba, while welcoming to his office a delegation from Basic Education Group, BEG, assured that his committee will tackle truancy among teachers.
He lamented that though there are many teachers, some of them, particularly those posted to rural areas, do not concentrate on their jobs, with many of them preferring to stay in cities.
He emphasised that his committee would be moving against such teachers as they could have no justification for neglecting their work while collecting their pay.
Speaking earlier, the Secretary of the Basic Education Group, Shafa Salma, appreciated the House of Assembly education committee for receiving the BEG delegation, explaining that BEG is a coalition of civil society organisations focusing on the education sector.
He identified poor supervision from the inspectorate department as accountable for poor class attendance by teachers and advocated an increase in budgetary allocation for the sector as well as the employment of more teachers, among other recommendations.
