By Ikenna Asomba

Lagos—Inter-district transfer of secondary school  teachers in Lagos state is putting pressure on the education system generally as many public  schools are now without teachers for core subjects of English and Mathematics where their transferred teachers were not replaced.

Teacher

The transfers which did not consider place of residence of affected teachers were said to have been effected by the office of the Deputy Governor, Dr Idiat Adebule, who doubles as the Education commissioner.

Meantime, Mr Segun Raheem, Chairman, Lagos Wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, yesterday described the recent mid-session transfer of secondary school teachers by the state government as “professionally wrong.”

Raheem  said in Lagos that the mid-session transfer was against the ethics of teaching.

He said the transfer could affect the school‘s curriculum, especially when students were preparing for mock and Senior Secondary School Examination, SSCE.

According to him, though it is statutory that a teacher can be transferred, it must be done with caution as it can affect the quality and standard of education.

“This is February; mock will commence very soon and WAEC will follow.

“If you say some schools are lacking teachers and you want the schools in those districts to have good grades, this is not the best time to make transfers; professionally it is wrong.

“You don’t transfer a teacher mid-session and expect positive results, it is professionally wrong.

“But if there is a need for it at all like the one proposed by the deputy governor, it must not be seen as politics.

“If need be, we will plead with the deputy governor that those who have decided not to go should be allowed to remain in their schools,” he said.

Raheem, however, pleaded with the government to consider recruiting more teachers in both primary and secondary schools as the state was in dire need of teachers.

Meanwhile, a teacher who was moved from a school in Oshodi to one in Surulere told NAN that the transfer was not evenly done.

According to her, there are four English teachers in her former school, teaching about 120 students in a class.

‘Two of the English teachers have been transferred without replacement; the remaining teachers are forced to take about 28 periods every week.

“Meanwhile, where I am transferred to, they have enough English teachers compared to where I am coming from.

“Although I should be happy because I have more time to myself, considering the love of the job and the students we are grooming, it is not a healthy exercise.

“It will have a serious consequence on their performance, particularly at this period when there is call for improvement in external examinations,” she said.