Delta Principals Stop Third Term Exams Over Unpaid Salaries

*Council Workers’ Wife Protest
From Ochei Matthew, Asaba
Amidst the bickering orchestrated by the Governor Ifeanyi Okowa over non-payment of teacher’s salaries, school examinations in Delta State have been put on hold by level 12 teachers and above.
Investigation revealed that the third term exam ought to have started two weeks ago according to the school curriculum but has been put on hold over the failure to pay the teacher’s salaries.
When The Dream Daily visited some public schools to ascertain the situation, students were seen roaming about the streets as teachers shunned classes, especially those from level 12 and above.
Sources stated that “the principals in the state have vow not to conduct the third term exam until their salaries are been paid.”
It would be recalled that the state governor had last week said that only workers from level 1 to 11, including teachers, would be pay their salaries which caused rancour among workers in the state.
As it were, the private schools in the state will on Friday 22 go on third term holidays, their exams having been concluded.
Meanwhile, the wives and female workers in local governments in the state have staged a protest over nine mouths unpaid salaries of the council workers.
The wives of the council workers, who described the act as “wicked, ungodly and capable of sending families to their early grave,” stressed that their husbands could no longer care for the family.
“For more than nine months now the government of Ifeanyi Okowa is owing our husband, rendered them useless. We can’t feed our children neither can we send them to school. Why is he treating our husband like that after working diligently? We are dying in Delta who will rescue us?” they lamented.
Efforts made to get the state Commissioner for Basic Education, Mr Chiedu Ebie, to react to the development failed as calls and a text message sent to his cell phone went unreplied.