Sacked Kaduna teachers lament ordeal
From Christiana T. Alabi & Haleema Bashir, Kaduna
As controversy rages over the sack of 21,780 teachers who allegedly failed a competence test conducted by the Kaduna State Government, Nigerians have taken to various platforms to express their thoughts. The affected teachers are also telling their stories and expressing grievances.
In spite of the strike embarked upon by the state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and a series of protest by joint labour unions, the state government said there was no going back on its resolve to sack the teachers.
One of the affected teachers, Umar Ahmed, who was employed in 2002 as an NCE holder, lamented that after serving for 15 years, he was issued a letter of compulsory retirement as if he committed an offence. According to him, while on the job, he acquired his first and second degrees in Library and Information Science.
Ahmed, who worked at Samaru Model LEA Primary School, Sabon Gari, Zaria, claimed that he scored 71per cent in the test, adding that he wrote an application for his script to be remarked.
“I took the letter to the Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), but I was asked to go back to my local government for the executive secretary to endorse. But he did not because he thought the governor would have a rethink on the issue. To me, my script was not well marked. I got my letter of compulsory retirement last week Friday. I have taken it as an act of God and I believe he is going to open another door for me to be able to sustain my family of one wife, five children and two adopted children.
“As a teacher, I faced lots of challenges, including poor infrastructure and lack of teaching materials. Since the government made education free, it has been a struggle to educate the children. We got materials from new students. Once they gained admission, we asked them to come with chalk and a broom. We got the textbooks we use during the regime of Namadi Sambo. There are no writing materials for children, which makes teaching and learning difficult. I took the competence test even though I was informed informally three days to the day and I scored 71, but my compulsory retirement letter was issued on January 5, 2018.
“The action taken by the government was rather harsh and drastic. I personally don’t have any other job. I feed my family with the teaching job. I am aware that the standard of our education has fallen, but this isn’t the way to go about it. The governor is not portraying the traits of a good leader. A good leader should be able to seek advice, but he is going about this issue wrongly. The government said teachers were incompetent, but I remember a time in our headquarters when drivers, cleaners and carpenters, among others, were converted to teachers, in a bid to reduce the number of staff at the local government headquarters,” he lamented.
Bashir Abubakar Mukhtar, one of the affected teachers, also narrated his experience.
Mukhtar said he was employed on August 1, 2008, after a verbal interview, but he is one of those adjudged to have failed the competence test.
He said the state government had succeeded in sacking some of the very good teachers it had. “Of course, there are some who may not be qualified, but they are trainable. The government has also lost some very good teachers because it is not all those who failed the test that are bad or unqualified. Also, it is not all those who passed the test that are good or qualified teachers,” he said.
He said the approach used by the state government to determine qualified teachers was wrong, adding that their performances should have been assessed on the job and not through a competence or written test.
“The first competence test was conducted by the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), but the government cancelled it, for teachers since the inception of the present saying that 95per cent of the teachers passed, administration of Governor el-Rufai. even though the results were not made He said he got the teaching job 10 years public. The second test was conducted by the ago, with a diploma in Cooperative Studies Ministry of Education and the SUBEB and a from the Federal Cooperative College, circular was issued to intimate teachers about Kaduna. He, however, added that, “Two years the test. I scored 69 while the pass mark was later, government directed that all teachers pegged at 75. I really feel bad about the whole should acquire the minimum qualification for situation and I regret voting Governor Nasir teaching, so I decided to upgrade by acquiring el-Rufai into power because he prefers to a National Certificate in Education (NCE) destroy rather than repair,” he said. from the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI).
He said the only option left for him is to “I was employed on level four, step one, go back to tailoring to keep his family - a wife but after I got the NCE, I was promoted to and five children. He alleged that the state level 7, step 5. When I was employed, I was government had not organised any training posted to UBE Primary School, Abuja road The government said teachers were incompetent, but I remember a time in our headquarters when drivers, cleaners and carpenters, among others, were converted to teachers, in a bid to reduce the number
of staff at the local government headquarters in Rigasa. I started teaching Primary Four. I taught three subjects - Agricultural Science, Civic Education and Primary Science. We were three teachers in a class, and we took three subjects each. At that time, teaching was interesting but when Governor Nasir el-Rufai came up with his free feeding and education programme, the teaching profession became something else as the number of pupils in my class rose from 50 to over 300. The classroom became choked such that teachers didn’t have places to sit.”
The father of five further narrated, “When we gave class work or homework, we would sit outside the classroom to mark the books or scripts as the case may be. I used my personal money to buy textbooks to teach my pupils while we appealed to parents or community members to assist the school with chalk. Before now, we collected N100 from each pupil to buy broom, chalk and register, but that was stopped by the present governor, saying that education is free, yet he is not providing all that is needed to make education qualitative - no instructional materials, no teaching aids. And the teaching environment is not conducive.”
It was observed that while the strike embarked upon by teachers is ongoing, they would still go to school to sign the register opened by the state government to monitor participation. However, the students and pupils are left stranded.
But last week, the Kaduna State Government offered a reprieve when it gave the 21,780 teachers who did not pass the competence test another opportunity for consideration. The affected teachers were asked to reapply and be considered for recruitment.
A source in Government House, Kaduna, said that if the teachers who did not score up to 75per cent in the competence test could pass the screening for fresh employment, they would be considered.
“We are not interested in pushing anyone away. We are pushing bad people away so that good ones can come in. That is why we are recruiting 25,000 to take the place of 21,780,” the governor said, adding that his administration was willing to give the affected teachers a second chance.