Anambra State Coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps, Blessed Iruma, has said that 63 per cent of teachers in the state are corps members.

Iruma disclosed this on Saturday, during the 2022 corps employers workshop in Awka.

This is contrary to the claims that the state government had approved the employment of no fewer than 5,000 teachers for both primary and secondary schools in the state.

However, Iruma who disclosed the corps members’ strength, called on employers in the state to prioritise their welfare in workplaces by giving attention to their safety and comfort at all times.

She said the workshop themed: ‘Achieving Improved Productivity Of Corps Members Through Enhanced Welfare And Security During The Service Year’, was critical to the corps members.

She said the workshop would arrive at cogent and vital decisions that would enhance and improve the existing good partnership between the NYSC, Anambra people and the corps members’ employers which she said had transcended to good fortunes for the NYSC members serving in the state.

She said, “Corps employers are critical stakeholders of NYSC; the scheme has high confidence in you as employers of corps members. It’s not in doubt that the corps members in your employment have done and are still doing their best to contribute to the growth and success of your organisation and the nation at large.

“It may interest you to put the records down that corps members constitute 62.5 per cent of teaching staff in schools in Anambra State.

“This is my first corps employers workshop since I assumed duty here in Anambra a few months ago, hence the desire to put heads together on the need for proper care to the corps members to stimulate proactiveness, responsibility, dedication, and for feedback towards proper utilisation of the serving corps members in the state.”

While commending the state government for its support to the scheme, she appealed to employers to pay corps members, a reasonable allowance starting from N10,000, provide accommodation for them, show love to them, secure them and inculcate in them, hard-working, discipline and core values.

The workshop also urged employers to prioritise health insurance for the corps members in their various establishments.

In her reaction to the claim by the NYSC, the state Commissioner for Education, Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, faulted the assertions by the NYSC coordinator and challenged her to provide data to prove her claims.

Chuma-Udeh said, “That is a false statement, inasmuch as corps members are posted to schools because of dearth of industries where they will work, I don’t think that 63 per cent of the teachers in Anambra are corps members. That is an errorneous assertion and I challenge her to provide data for that.

“The state governor, Chukwuma Soludo, in his passion for education, has ordered for the employment of 5,000 teachers and the teachers have been posted to their respective places of work. They will actually be oriented by next Tuesday. So the claim that 63 per cent of teachers in Anambra are corps members is a dataless claim and should be disregarded.”

Punch