Tony Okafor , Awka. To hell with your computer literacy, Anambra teachers tell Obiano. 14-07-2015.

Anambra state teachers have rejected the compulsory Information Technology package planned for them by the state government. 
The State Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Teachers,Ms Nnenna Okonkwo, disclosed this to our correspondent in Awka on Tuesday.
She said the Union had written the state commissioner for Education, Professor Kate Omenugha to explain to her that the conditions given to the teachers  for the policy were unconscionable and unacceptable.
She said one of the conditions given to them by the state Government for the training was for them to obtain the computers from government for N90,000 each.

She said “such conditions are not acceptable to us and we havemade our position known to government.
“We have asked them to reduce the price of the computer to N50,000 each and that teachers who will be due for retirement in the next 18 months should not be compelled to buy the computers.

“We say this because government had compelled us to sign consent forms, compelling teachers in the state to buy the computers from them, only for the commissioner to withdraw from that stand last week.

“How can somebody compel teachers to buy the computers at that High cost? Some of the teachers have their own computers and somebody still wants them to buy another one; it is callous and we have rejected the plan', Okonkwo submitted.

The state government had last week decreed that from January 2016, teachers in the state who are not computer literate would no longer enjoy promotion.

The state commissioner for education, Professor Kate Omenugha made this known in a press conference in her office in Awka.

She said: “There has been misinformation and misconception, with bad blood being generated on the policy of one teacher, one computer. This is a national policy that we are just  trying to implement.
“When the National Council on Education took the decision in 2012, it was binding on all states and because of the forward – looking nature of the present administration, we decided to implement it.

“When we took over, the state government evolved a blueprint on the implementation of the one teacher, one laptop policy and by January 2016, every teacher in the state must be computer literate, otherwise there will be no promotion for non computer literate teachers.

“Similarly, any new teacher to be employed in the state must be computer literate. What we promised Anambra State is to give our children education that is competitive and no pupil can rise above his teacher that is not computer literate, a situation we do not want.

“We made it clear that teachers should key into the programme voluntarily. It is not mandatory, contrary to what many people are insinuating. We know that making changes often come with resistance, but this is one change that is important for the future of education in our state.”
According to her, those who did not consent to purchasing the laptops will not be punished, except that they must be computer literate to be able to impart the right knowledge on the children, in line with the national policy on education.