By: Livingstone Ogbang, mni
At its last meeting, the Cross River State Executive Council approved the immediate relocation of the Cross River State College of Education (COE) to the site of the Teachers Continuous Training Institute (TCTI) in Biase.
The decision was reached after months of extensive deliberations. It is aimed at ensuring that the state once again, has at least one college of education running the Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) programme, while simultaneously running degree awarding programmes. I believe the Governor took this decision in the overall interest of the state.
Following the governor’s approval, the Commissioner for Education, Dr. Stephen Odey, has directed the leadership of both the College of Education and the TCTI to work out modalities for the full implementation of the conversion.
It is envisaged that the new College of Education Biase, will operate a tripartite mandate, retaining its core responsibility of retraining primary and secondary school teachers as originally conceived.
With this development, the law that established the TCTI five years ago is on the verge of repeal by the Cross River State House of Assembly to provide a legal framework for the new College of Education.
However, what many public affairs analysts are curious to know are: what happens to the staff of the TCTI? Will they be redeployed elsewhere since their terms of reference no longer align with the new mandate of the College of Education? Or will the new College absorb them? Will they be moved to other sectors of the civil service or completely disengaged because their roles do not fit into the College’s mandate?
Another concern is whether the new College of Education can maximize and maintain the first-class facilities of the TCTI.
I am not a lawyer, but it is most likely that the mandate of the TCTI will be subsumed by the College of Education.
Whichever way one looks at it, some or all of the staff will have to be posted to other areas of the state civil service. They could be sent to the office of the Head of Civil Service, the Secondary Education Board, the State Universal Basic Education Board, the Local Government Service Commission or other agencies willing to accommodate them.
A staff member I spoke with recently confided in me that the tenure of the former Director-General should not have ended when it did, given the tremendous innovation and transformational leadership he brought to the TCTI.
According to him, staff productivity, academic standards and punctuality were sustained throughout his tenure. In the few days since he left, attendance and productivity have drastically declined and discipline has waned.
He fears that this is what the future holds if the situation is not properly checked. If some staff members are allowed to remain with the new COE, will this attitude be condoned or checked? These are questions begging for answers because we want the best for our LGA.
The truth is, while some staff may be reabsorbed into the system, others may be asked to leave. As someone from Biase, this is where my concern lies.
For us in the Ibogo community of Akpet, the establishment of the TCTI by the Ayade administration and its sustenance by the people-first mantra of Governor Otu is what we hold as our share of government presence.
The planned relocation has been commended by education stakeholders who believe that the leadership and experience of the immediate past Director-General who pioneered the Institute and the support of the Commissioner for Education, whose efforts complemented each other, were instrumental to the success of the Institution.
While we welcome the transition to a full-fledged College of Education, which promises expanded job opportunities and regional development, we worry about the potential dilution of standards. Can the facility sustain its established structure or will administrative laxity set in?
The people of Biase are happy about this development, but the Cross River State Government must ensure that the standards and productivity for which the Institute was known are sustained.
This is a clarion call to the Cross River State House of Assembly led by Rt. Hon. Elvert Ayambem. Its leadership should accelerate the passage of the law to enable the smooth take-off of the Cross River State College of Education, Akpet Central.
A College of Education will create more job opportunities for the teeming youths of Biase and continue to place Cross River State on the national map.
More importantly, the state government must ensure that the institutional discipline and operational excellence left behind by the pioneer leadership are strictly preserved as the College of Education, Akpet Central takes off.
