Cross River State primary school teachers, who were demoted in 2016 by the State Universal Basic Education Board have cried out over non-payment of their salaries for five years.
Some of the teachers, who spoke to journalists in Calabar on Wednesday said they had been stagnated by SUBEB and that some of their members had died in the process.
Speaking on behalf of the teachers, Mrs Ekponwan Ekanem, said, “We are stagnated because of the demotion. Over 2,000 of us were affected across the state.
“We have not been paid since 2016 and many have died due to hardship. Some are receiving alerts far below their monthly salaries while some of us don’t even receive anything.
“We have not been promoted either and we are still teaching on empty stomach.”
Reacting to the teachers’ demands, the Secretary of SUBEB, Mr Cyril Itam, said the board was “waiting for the outcome of the audit report on the matter from the office of the Auditor General of the Local Government Service Commission.
“In November last year, we called all those who had remedied their problems to come and they went through screening to ascertain their current status.
“The report of the screening is with Auditor General of the Local Government Service Commission. So, the issues are being sorted out.
“Some were demoted down to Grade level 4 because they had no teaching qualification.”
