21,000 apply for Edo teaching jobs.

The Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, on Monday said his administration would engage the services of only qualified teachers to improve standard of education in the state. Governor Oshiomhole stated this when he received a committee report on the recruitment of teachers for the state ministry of education in Benin. He explained that strength of the state’s teaching staff was inadequate as against the number of schools available, adding that those recommended by the committee, irrespective of their state of origin, would be engaged.‎ Oshiomhole stated that the state government had demonstrated, through its intervention and by the quality of schools built, that “education for us is at the heart of our future.” He added, “Our future lies in producing the best of human capital, and where merit is required, our people would be a first choice. “I know for a fact that we still need more teachers, we still have schools without enough teachers, and this is premised on the problem of posting and corruption in the section of the ministry of education.” He, however, commended members of the committee for their helping the state government to overcome the challenge of selecting suitably qualified candidates for the various positions. ‎Earlier, the chairman of the committee, Professor Dennis Agbonlahor, explained that 21,195 persons applied for teaching positions in the state. Agbonlahor said that the applicants were invited for a screening exercise, through a Short Message Service, which was, however, responded to by only 9,171 applicants‎.