The Akwa Ibom State Universal Basic Education Board, AKSUBEB, has announced a major recruitment policy shift wherein teachers would be recruited and posted within their area of residence.
It noted that such an initiative would curb teacher absenteeism and eliminate long daily commutes that affect classroom productivity, as witnessed.
The Executive Chairman of AKSUBEB, Anietie Etuk, who announced this during the Ministerial Media Briefing on Education in Uyo, identified long distance as a major challenge hindering the effective service delivery of teachers across the state, noting that subsequent recruitment will take a different dimension.
His words: “In this 2026 Teachers’ recruitment exercise, let me announce to you a major recruitment policy shift; the state will henceforth recruit teachers locally from their immediate areas of residence. The move is to curb teacher absenteeism and eliminate long daily commutes that affect classroom productivity.
“For instance, we won’t recruit someone who lives in Ikot Ekpene and ask him to go to School in Uyo to be teaching. You must live in your place of primary assignment.”
He also announced that the board would be adopting a “whole-school intervention model” in addressing infrastructural deficit in any school, adding that under the strategy, selected schools will receive comprehensive upgrades combining perimeter security fencing, clean water supply, modern sanitation, solar lighting, and on-site teachers’ quarters.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Education, Prof Ubong Essien Umoh, stated that state investments, including scholarship awards, bursaries, and examination fee subsidies, were structured to boost school enrolment and overall academic performance.
On his part, the Commissioner for Information, Aniekan Umanah, explained that funds allocated for capital infrastructure under SUBEB are different from allocations for teacher gratuities, matching grants, or direct student bursaries.
Akwa Ibom SUBEB announces recruitment policy shift