Group slams Edo Govt over ‘grass-cutting’ directive to teachers

The Edo State Civil Society Coalition for Human Rights (ESCSHR) has expressed outrage over an alleged directive from the state Ministry of Education compelling public school teachers to perform menial labour, including cutting grass in their respective schools before the official resumption of students.

The group, in a petition to the ministry, signed by Kola Edokpayi and Aghatise Raphael, coordinator and secretary respectively, described the alleged directive as disgraceful and demeaning.

They argued that teachers are not slaves, and schools are not forced labour camps.

“This is not only an insult to the teaching profession but also a blatant violation of human rights and labour ethics.

“Teachers are the backbone of society and nation-builders entrusted with shaping the minds of our children. Reducing them to gardeners and cleaners is a shameful act of abuse and a slap in the face of every hardworking educator in Edo State.

“This backward practice belongs to the dark past and must never be tolerated in a state that claims to value education,” the petition stated.

According to the civil group, “forcing teachers into menial labour is not education reform — it is educational slavery,” which they said violates Section 34(1)(c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which guarantees that “no person shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour.”

The state Ministry of Education has swiftly and vehemently denied the allegation. The Commissioner for Education, Paddy Iyamu, in a statement issued in Benin, denied compelling teachers to either cut grass or do any other menial maintenance work in their respective schools.

Iyamu, who described the allegation as “unfounded,” said the teachers seen cutting grass at their schools were engaging in voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

“The attention of the Edo State Ministry of Education has been drawn to a publication by a civil society group alleging that teachers are being told to cut grass and engage in menial jobs to maintain their respective schools on the directive of the Ministry.

“Though information at our disposal suggests that it was a voluntary CSR effort by some teachers, we have ordered a full-scale investigation into this matter. We assure our esteemed teachers that we will get to the root of the issue and correct any abnormality in whatever form,” he said.

The commissioner, who stressed that the government would not condone any practice that distracts teachers from their core mandate of imparting knowledge, added that “teachers’ priority is the transfer of learning, so we want to discourage in very strong terms the practice of teachers being forcibly engaged in, or used to engage in, tasks that do not directly correlate with strengthening knowledge gaps and learning outcomes.”

He urged the public to be wary of individuals attempting to smear the name of the ministry due to ongoing reforms designed to block “unwholesome benefits to a few, and to protect the common man and the children from humble beginnings.”