.As Staff Complain Over Discrimination
By Okey Alozie
Imo Secondary Education Management Board (SEMB) is said to be under serious pressure now as series of complains and petitions have been written against the Board over untimely retirements and other forms of irregularities in the School System.
Retirement of Teachers and Principals of Public Secondary Schools in Imo State have caused a lot of controversy since 2023 uptil now.
Good number of Principals we learnt, who received retirement letters from SEMB protested against the Management, alleging that they were victimized for no justified reason.
The aggrieved Principals and Teachers have now registered their complains at different quarters demanding for the reverse of their untimely retirement from Service.
One of the aggrieved Principals who spoke to our roving reporter under strict annonimity, voiced out that things are going wrong in the system presently, adding that some top Management officials are now using their positions to witch hunt Principals and teachers that are not friendly to them.
The Principal hinted that she was transferred from Owerri Municipal to Owerri North LGA and when she was about going to her newly posted school to start work, she was asked to come to SEMB office with her transfer letter, which she obeyed the management and brought back her transfer letter for the said correction to be made, but unfortunately, the transfer letter was taken from her and after a while, retirement letter was handed over to her. According to the complainant since then, her name was removed from the pay role.
Other Principals who spoke to our roving reporter, complained bitterly on the same untimely retirement, adding that the humiliation, embarrassment, intimidation and wickedness going on now in SEMB has come to an alarming rate. Even as the bill for 65years service extension to Teachers and Principals is said to have been passed into law by the Executive Governor of Imo State, Dist. Senator Hope Uzodinma, yet SEMB still went ahead to retire Teachers and Principals, we gathered.
Our source went further to reveal that documents in people’s files were allegedly tampered with at SEMB office, especially at the SEMB headquarters located inside the State Secretariat Complex along Owerri Portharcourt road Imo State.
The birth certificates and first school leaving certificates of some Principals and Teachers were alleged to be missing and upon that, the victims were asked to pay N10,000 for the replacement of these missing documents.
This extortion of money by SEMB officials came to the hearing of the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Education.
Against this backdrop the Permanent Secretary gave query to some SEMB top officials.
