The Edo State Commissioner for Education, Mr Epenisi Omorotionmwan, said in Benin that teachers in the state were better paid than their counterparts in the civil service within and outside the state.

Omorotionmwan who made the statement while briefing members of the state’s House of Assembly on the 2012 budget performance of the Ministry of Education said that Governor Adams Oshiomhole had increased teachers’ salaries to enhance effectiveness and efficiency in the state’s education system.

The Commissioner said that in spite of the government’s effort at improving and up grading the education system in the state, teachers were still not committed to duty.

“I want to appeal to the honourable House to join me in the fight to get our teachers back to classrooms to do the job they are paid to do.

“This call has become necessary because I am convinced that teachers in Edo State are better paid than their counterparts in other states,’’ he said.

The Commissioner also disclosed that more than 500 science teachers had been recruited and deployed to various schools across the state.

He said the ministry would in no distant time embark on massive transfer of teachers from over staffed schools to under-staffed schools in the state.

Omorotionmwan stated that the state government had paid the N4.2 billion Universal Basic Education (UBE) counterpart fund up to date to access UBE funds.

He said that over 100 schools had been marked for total transformation in the state, adding that 90 per cent of the schools had been keyed in for the transformation.