Open Letter To Oyo State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM)

By Ademola Adeleke

I would like to start this letter with a question. “Why was an interview conducted for the ongoing TESCOM recruitment exercise in the first place?” To select the best brains which will later be deployed to secondary schools across the state to add value to the educational structure of Oyo state, right? Good!

In all sincerity, the interview process was fair enough and thus yielded its intended result. Suitable candidates were selected for the teaching category, the physically challenged inclusive.

However, following the release of the list of successful physically challenged candidates, a protest ensued after it was alleged that there were names of non-disabled persons on the list meant strictly for physically challenged candidates, hence leading to the suspension of the list.

A meeting was organised to this effect, where the TESCOM officials and delegates from associations of disabled persons deliberated on the issue on the 11th of December, 2020.

The outcome of this meeting, according to insiders, was that these associations of physically challenged persons were instructed by the TESCOM officials to compile and submit the names of their members to the TESCOM secretariat for possible employment.

This verdict, however, has been troubling to some of us who are disabled, performed wonderfully at the interview conducted, and consequently had our names on the suspended list but have no affiliation with any of these associations.

We believe that our names made the original list as a result of our performance, and that agitation from these associations which might bring about a review of the list should not alter this merit-based selection. If anything, the names of the alleged non-disabled persons on the list should be expunged to give room for more qualified disabled candidates.

In other words, we urge that whatever names will be submitted by these associations should be an addition to the original list and not a replacement of those whose names made the list on merit, but are now under the threat of disqualification because of their non-membership of these associations.

We hope that you will look into this matter with utmost consideration.
Thank you for the opportunity to join you in reimagining education in Oyo State.

Yours faithfully,
Ademola Adeleke, on behalf of concerned disabled candidates on the TESCOM list.