Six years after the Government of Oyo State last recruited secondary school teachers, Governor Seyi Makinde has given a directive to the Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) to recruit 7,000 teachers; 2,000 non-teaching staff and 1,600 night guards.

The chairman of TESCOM, Pastor Akinade Alamu, who confirmed the development during a press conference on Tuesday, stated that Governor Makinde equally directed that applicants should be given the forms free of charge.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, quoted the TESCOM boss as saying that the application form would be in circulation for two weeks after which the applicants will write an aptitude test.

He commended the governor’s compassionate directive to give forms to applicants for free, adding that all applicants could access the forms at any of the six TESCOM zonal offices in the state and its headquarters at the Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan.

The zonal offices include; Ibadan Zone 1, Ibadan Zone 2, Saki, Ogbomoso, Oyo and Eruwa.

Alamu informed that applicants would only need to present their local government identification before they could get a form, hinting, however, that this was not by any means discriminatory or shutting the door against applicants who are not indigenes of Oyo State.

He said: “We received approval from His Excellency, Engineer Seyi Makinde, to recruit 7,000 teachers, 2,000 non-teaching staff and 1,600 night guards for all the schools in Oyo State and, immediately, we started the exercise. And we have gone to the press to place the advertisement.

“When the governor became aware that we were to collect N1,000 from each applicant, he gave a directive that the forms should be given freely to all applicants in the state. And, in his usual compassionate attitude, he said he would not want people coming from Saki, Kisi, Ogbomoso, Oyo and other distant areas to come down and pay 1,000 to the bank, wait for confirmation from the Accountant-General, before they finally come to obtain the form from us.

“He said he would not want people to undergo these rigours and that the forms should be given to all applicants free of charge. So, we have started that this morning.

“Also, the governor directed that the forms should be made available at all the zones in Oyo State. There are six zones and the head office is the seventh centre where the forms will be given to the applicants.

“The addresses of our offices are as follows: Ibadan Zone 1, Leaf Road, opposite NTC; Ibadan zone 2, Bishop Philips Academy, Iwo Road. People can go there to obtain the form. Oyo zone is located opposite Ajayi Crowther University’s main gate, Oyo. In Ogbomoso, they can obtain forms at the TESCOM zonal office, Atenda, Ogbomoso. At Saki, we have our office at the Old Teachers College. In Eruwa, they can get it at our zonal office located at the local government headquarters. People can also come to the headquarters here at Secretariat to obtain the forms. Nobody should collect any money from any applicant.

“However, what we want, which we think will serve as control is, people will have to come with their local government identification to obtain the forms. They will fill and submit the form to us, and after the closing of the exercise - that is in two weeks - we will announce the date for the examination. This is because we expect that there will be so many applicants and we know we won't be able to conduct a face-to-face interview for all of them at once. So, there will be a computer-based test to prune down their number. All those that are qualified will later be invited for an interview after the examination.”

Responding to questions from newsmen, Pastor Alamu maintained that the government has put in a place the arrangement for applicants to present their local government identification even if they were not from Oyo State, noting that this would serve as a control for the system.

“As for whether people can obtain the form by proxy, let me say this, we have a system which we have put in place whereby you come with your local government identification card. This will serve as a control. And before you get the form, they will look at your local government identification. The name will be out on our register and we will give you a form on which the number of the form given to you will be recorded in our register.”

He added that the recruitment exercise was only being done through collection of forms in the seven locations, warning prospective applicants to be wary of arrangements that might lure them to paying fees for online recruitment.

He said: “Actually, doing it online is an option but we have started this and the governor has graciously, in his compassionate manner, said we should send these forms to the zones where people can obtain them without going to distant places. So, this is the arrangement we have put in place.

“As to whether you can bring your local government identification card even if you are not an indigene of Oyo State, we won't say no. Bring it but it is the result of the weeding test that will tell us those who are qualified to take up this appointment or not.

So, we are not discriminating at all but using a method to control, so that it won’t be open to people who are not even qualified.

“The forms are available from today to 24th of February. Some people, in anxiety, have gone to the banks to pay without getting clarification from us and I don’t think we will accept responsibility for such loss,” Alamu concluded.

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