Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, on Thursday, September 24, 2026, inaugurated 6,375 newly recruited school personnel comprising 6,030 teachers and 345 non-teaching staff for public schools across the state.
The inauguration was held at the Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu International Conference Centre in Owerri, marking the deployment of the new personnel following a recruitment and training process aimed at addressing staffing shortages in public primary and secondary schools.
Uzodimma said his administration would prioritise the welfare of teachers, including the payment of their salaries, while urging the new recruits to approach their responsibilities with commitment and professionalism.
“I want to make Imo teachers the most important civil servants in the state,” Uzodimma said.
He said the government would prioritise teachers in salary payments and provide other welfare packages intended to improve their working conditions.
The governor said the 6,030 teachers had been deployed to public schools within their home communities as part of an arrangement intended to promote equitable distribution of teaching personnel and address staffing gaps in rural and urban schools.
He urged the new teachers to see themselves as partners in the development of the state and to discharge their responsibilities diligently even when they were not being monitored.
Uzodimma also directed the new personnel to protect school infrastructure, maintain hygienic learning environments and work closely with parents and community leaders to create conditions conducive to learning.
The governor announced the provision of digital teaching devices for the newly recruited teachers, with some of the devices presented symbolically during the inauguration.
He said other beneficiaries would collect their devices after completing the required biometric enrolment.
The recruitment exercise followed an earlier government announcement on Friday, September 11, 2026, that employment letters would begin to be issued to successful participants in a teacher-training programme conducted at Benjamin Uwajumogu College of Education, Ihitte Uboma.
The approved recruitment covered 6,375 teaching and non-tutorial positions, with 6,030 of the positions allocated to teachers and 345 to non-teaching personnel.
The 6,030 teachers had undergone a six-week intensive training programme before their deployment to public schools.
The Commissioner for Primary and Secondary Education, Bernard Ikegwuoha, described the recruitment as a “historic milestone” arising from what he said was a comprehensive assessment of staffing needs across the state’s 27 local government areas.
Ikegwuoha said the recruitment was expected to reduce the learner-to-teacher ratio in public schools and strengthen the availability of trained personnel in classrooms.
He also linked the exercise to the administration’s broader education reforms and efforts to improve the standard of education across Imo State.
The government said the recruitment was designed to take thousands of unemployed teaching and non-tutorial personnel off the labour market while addressing shortages in public primary and secondary schools.
The new personnel are expected to serve across public schools in the state’s 27 local government areas.
Speaking on behalf of the newly recruited personnel, Philomena Maduako thanked the government for the employment opportunity and pledged the commitment of the beneficiaries to improving educational standards.
Maduako also pledged that the new personnel would comply with government policies and contribute to the development of education in the state.
The inauguration brings the recruitment exercise into its deployment phase after the completion of the training and verification processes.
With 6,030 teachers and 345 non-teaching personnel now formally inaugurated, the government expects the expanded workforce to strengthen staffing levels in public schools and improve the delivery of basic and secondary education across Imo State.
Uzodimma’s emphasis on teacher welfare also places the new workforce at the centre of the administration’s stated effort to improve the teaching profession, with the governor directing the recruits to combine professional responsibility with care for pupils, school facilities and their host communities.
