The Abia government has secured the accreditation of the Abia State College of Education Technical, Arochukwu, after several years of inactivity.

Ferdinand Ekeoma, the governor’s media aide, disclosed this on Monday at the end of the State Executive Council meeting, in Umuahia.

Mr Ekeoma said that the school “was literally non-existent” before government intervention by restoring power, water, fencing, and internal roads.

“The government initiated the idea of recruitment, so the government cannot recruit people and ignore them. Also, I would like to inform you that accreditation just happened about 48 hours ago,” the aide added.

Mr Ekeoma said the college’s workers were owed about 27 months of salary arrears, which the present administration had begun to defray. He described the restoration as “a rekindling of hope” for students and graduates whose future was affected by the loss of accreditation.

On teachers’ posting across the state, Mr Ekeoma explained that the posting of teachers was not meant to be punitive.

It was, he said, designed to ensure productivity and prevent them from spending all their earnings on transportation.

Mr Ekeoma said that some persons, who had accepted rural postings, “misconstrued” the government’s decision and later sought redeployment to urban areas like Umuahia and Aba.

Mr Ekeoma explained that the government would employ teachers from local areas to address underrepresentation and ensure rural schools were not left without teachers.

On promotion and allowances, he disclosed that the government would adopt a holistic approach to the issue instead of treating teachers in isolation from other sectors.

Mr Ekeoma added that the committee handling the matter included the accountant-general, head of service, and other top officials, noting that “the preliminary report is ready”.

He said that the present administration’s reforms had sanitised the system, adding that the government is not owing anybody any pension at the moment.

Mr Ekeoma said that the same process used in pension payment would be applied to leave allowances and gratuities to ensure fairness and accountability.

(NAN)