As part of measures to improve the standard of education in Bauchi, the state’s Teachers Service Commission, has demoted a principal and a senior teacher of Government Day Secondary School, to a classroom teacher, over their involvement in the unauthorised sale of public school property.
After demoting the the principal Musa Ahmed, and the senior master, Adamu Shehu of the secondary school in Kirfi, the duo were reassigned as classroom teachers, in order to serve as deterrent to other teachers still perpetrating the act.
According to an official statement by the Bauchi State Teachers’ Service Commission, the two staff members were found guilty of misconduct after selling school items without permission.
The disciplinary panel revealed that the duo sold dozens of scrap metal beds, cooking pots, and roofing sheets, all belonging to the school.
Spokesperson to the Commission, Dahiru Adamu, said in a statement on Thursday that the action followed a probe into the illegal disposal of school materials, including 32 scrapped student beds, nine industrial aluminium pots, and roofing zinc, all sold without clearance from the state Ministry of Education.
Garba Bashe, the overseeing Permanent Secretary of the Commission, confirmed that a four-man committee was set up to investigate the matter, and its findings led to the demotion of the officers by one grade level.
“The Commission has also directed the affected officers to refund the total amount of N597,000, which is the assessed value of the items sold,” the statement read. “In addition, the principal is to pay N72,000 owed to the school’s casual staff.”
The Commission emphasised its zero tolerance for acts that undermine accountability in the education sector and noted that security agencies have been contacted to help recover the sold items.
