Uzodimma Inaugurates 6,375 Teachers, Non-Teaching Staff Into Imo Civil Service

Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma has inaugurated 6,030 newly recruited teachers and 345 non-teaching staff into the state civil service as part of efforts to address staffing shortages in the education sector.

The inauguration took place on Thursday in Owerri, where the governor described the recruitment as a major step towards revitalising education in the state.

Uzodimma said the recruitment was aimed at addressing the shortage of teachers and restoring dignity to the teaching profession. He pledged to prioritise salary payments for teachers, saying he wanted them to become the most valued civil servants in the state.

The governor disclosed that the newly recruited teachers had been deployed to public schools in their respective native communities to promote equitable distribution of personnel and address the gap between rural and urban schools.

He also announced plans to distribute digital teaching devices to the teachers, urging them to protect school infrastructure, maintain hygienic learning environments and strengthen relationships with parents and community leaders.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Primary and Secondary Education, Bernard Ikegwuoha, described the recruitment as a historic milestone resulting from a comprehensive assessment of staffing needs across the state’s 27 local government areas.

Ikegwuoha said the initiative was part of broader educational reforms, which he said included the recovery and renaming of Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe University and the establishment of new tertiary institutions.

Speaking on behalf of the newly recruited teachers, Philomena Maduako thanked the governor for the employment opportunity and pledged their commitment to improving educational standards in line with the state’s policies. The event also featured the symbolic presentation of computer tablets to selected teachers, while others were directed to collect theirs after biometric enrolment.