Ibeno Local Government Area has sued the Akwa Ibom State government for not recruiting many of its indigenes into teaching jobs in the public secondary schools.
Speaking during an interview on Monday in Uyo, Chairman of Akwa Ibom State Secondary Education Board (SSEB), Dr Ekaette Okon , said Ibeno Local Government Area had instituted a legal case against the state government for recruiting only six of its indigenes out of over 278 persons who applied for the teaching job.
Okon, who added that it was worrisome that Ijaw Youth Council had joined in the suit, decried the notion that some local government areas felt short-changed as they claimed many of their indigenes were not shortlisted for appointment into the state teaching service.
The chairman, who explained that the quota system was not the basis of the recent recruitment of teachers into the secondary schools, said the quality of teachers was the criterion used.
She said the recruitment was not meant to fill quotas from the 31 local government areas but to ensure quality education in the state.
She emphasised that the exercise based its selection process on the stipulated criteria to engage qualified teachers rather than ensure equal representation of the local government areas in the selection.
She said government had to ignore some protocol to address the state of emergency declared in the education sector by Governor Udom Emmanuel which involved addressing infrastructure deficit and recruiting more hands in public schools to achieve the completion agenda of the government in the sector.
