A visually impaired vice principal in Abia State has been left to bear the burden of teaching hundreds of students due to the absence of teachers at Ozuitem Community Secondary School.

This dire situation was brought to public attention by education activist and CEO of Educare, Alex Onyia.

Onyia, in a video and social media post on Friday, shared his emotional response after witnessing the blind vice principal conducting a class single-handedly.

He decried the challenges at the school, where just three individuals, the principal, the blind vice principal, and his wife are solely responsible for teaching all 363 students from Junior Secondary School 1 to Senior Secondary School 3.

“There are no teachers in this school of 363 students. Their principal, vice principal (blind), and vice principal’s wife teach these students from JSS1 to SS3,” Onyia stated.

He further highlighted that students often go through school days without receiving any lessons due to the shortage of teachers.

However, he revealed that recent renovation efforts spearheaded by his organisation had led to the West African Examinations Council granting the school approval as an examination centre.

“In fact, WAEC approved their school as a centre yesterday because they saw the renovation work we are currently doing,” he added.

Against this backdrop, Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, in October 2024, declared a state of emergency in the education sector, introducing several incentives to address systemic challenges.

These include extending the retirement age of teachers to 65 years and their service years to 40, aimed at retaining experienced educators in the system.

He said, “Our administration understands the importance of education, which explains why we prioritise it as one of the major pillars of our governance objectives.

“As the Chairman of NUT in the state said, we had since increased the retirement age of teachers in the state to 65 years or 40 years of service subject to health and willingness of individuals to remain in the field. We have also effectively banished all forms of discrimination in the payment of workers’ salaries and allowances.”

The governor also reiterated his commitment to fostering a conducive learning environment, emphasising plans to address the student-teacher ratio by recruiting more educators across the state.