Gov. Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa has announced the offer of automatic employment to all indigenes of Bayelsa who graduated with first class in their respective areas of studies.
Speaking on a live Radio Programme on Saturday, Dickson called on all first class graduates who did not pick the form for the employment process for the 1000 vacancies which was announced earlier to approach the civil service commission for enrollment into the service.
According to him, the automatic employment of the first class graduates would be in addition to the 1000 graduates waiting for oral interview to be conducted by the Civil Service Commission.
The governor said the decision to engage the first class graduates in the state stemmed from his desire to bequeath a vibrant and productive civil service on the state.
Speaking on the flood disaster in the state, gov. Dickson said that schools closed in September because of flooding would reopen only when it was safe to do so.
It will be recalled that the governor had ordered the closure of some schools on September 29, following the flood that disaster that ravaged the state.
The governor insisted on the schools remaining closed in order “to protect the vulnerable children from water-borne diseases.”
Dickson said though the flood had begun to recede, the government was more concerned about the health and safety of the children.
He gave an assurance that the Ministry of Education was working toward ensuring that the closure of the schools did not affect the overall performance of students in the forthcoming West African Examination Council conducted examinations.
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The governor also disclosed that the government has taken steps to ensure proper sanitation of all the schools, including those that were converted to camps for displaced persons, before the children would be allowed back into them.
“We ordered a forced closure of all schools about a month ago to ensure the safety of the children. But now that the flood is receding, we will do everything possible to make our schools habitable before announcing the resumption of schools.
“But let me assure you that that will not be too long from now. The State Ministry of Education is monitoring the water level and making daily reports to me.
“We are not in a hurry to push children who are vulnerable to be exposed to food-related ailments.
“On the issue of the performance of our students in national examinations, I want to assure you that government will encourage all schools to make some adjustments to enable them to make up for lost time,” he said
The governor commended the flood victims for their resilience, saying the government would do its best to rehabilitate the displaced persons even as he called for collaboration in finding long term solutions to tackle the issue of flood through the dredging of the major rivers, tributaries, shore protection as well as construction of sea walls and shelters.
