The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has
said that his administration will ask its senior officials to enrol their
children in government-owned schools.
Public primary schools, largely poorly funded,
ill-equipped and staffed with inadequate, and sometimes incompetent,
teachers, are usually attended by wards of low income earners and the poor
across Nigeria.
Mr. El-Rufai revealed his plan in a state
broadcast on Thursday to explain reforms being undertaken by the state
government.
Details of the broadcast were made available
to PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday, just as the NLC accused Mr. El-Rufai of violating a
court order on the controversial sack of teachers in the state.
Speaking on his plans, Mr. El-Rufai said, “As
we make progress, we will require our senior officials to enrol their children
in public schools. And I will by personal example ensure that my son that will
be six years of age in 2019 will be enrolled in a public school in Kaduna
State, by God’s grace.
He said one of his goals is to have only
graduates as primary school teachers, arguing that the educational attainments
of a country like Finland shows that this is the way to go.
“We do not agree that we should restore Grade
2 teacher training. But we must improve the intellectual capacity of teachers
that the NCE should give way ultimately to first and second degrees as minimum
teaching qualifications. Kaduna ranks first among the northern states, and 12th
in the country overall in WAEC scores. We can be the best if we do not relent
in reforming our schools,” Mr. El-Rufai said.
He said public schools in Nigeria lack
facilities and good teachers.
“We said many schools did not have roofs,
doors, windows, water and toilets, and we promised to fix it. As soon as we
took office, we also sadly learnt that at least 50 per cent of school pupils
sat on floors due to the absence of desks and chairs. Therefore, under no
circumstance would we subjugate the future of the two million pupils in public
primary schools, and those coming after them, to the interests of unqualified
teachers,” he said.
He said the attitude of indifference to public
education resulted in the recruitment of teachers at local government level
without adherence to standards.
“We found that unqualified teachers entered
the system because the recruitment of teachers was politicised. The local
government council chairmen and other senior politicians and bureaucrats saw
teaching as a dumping ground for their thugs, supporters and other unsuitable
persons. In many instances, no examinations or interviews were conducted to
assess the quality of recruits. Political patronage, nepotism and corruption
became the yardstick, thus giving unqualified persons a way in,” he said.
Mr. El-Rufai said the current government has
spent more than N625 million on training since 2015 noting that thousands of
teachers were trained in literacy, numeracy, reading skills and in other
subjects of the teaching profession.
“The competency test results clearly showed
that the training programmes had recorded, at best, only limited impact. The
results of the competency test profoundly disappointed us. It showed that much
of the monies spent on training teachers since 2011 had been wasted,” he said.
He said the competency test revealed that many
of the teachers do not have the basic knowledge, and are incapable of imparting
what they do not have.
“The honest truth is that many of these
teachers should themselves be adult education students, being taught basic
literacy and numeracy. The government came to the conclusion that it is not
further training that teachers who cannot score 75 per cent in a Primary Four
exam require. In these circumstances, the government took the difficult, but
necessary decision, to disengage all the teachers who did not meet the 75 per
cent threshold. This has been done in accordance with the terms of their
employment, and their entitlements will be payed, as appropriate,” he said.
He said that in place of the 22,000 teachers
disengaged by government due to failure in the competency test, 25,000
qualified teachers are to be recruited.
“This week, SUBEB conducted tests for the over
43,000 applicants that have indicated interest in the teaching positions. The
ongoing recruitment process will sieve these applicants to ensure that only
bonafide teachers are recruited.
“Education is a leveller, it gives the
children of the poor a chance to rise above the condition of their birth. And a
nation of well-educated people offers immense opportunities for social
mobility, enabling the poor to move out of poverty by the sheer force of talent
and hard work,” he concluded.
PREMIUM TIMES had reported how two-thirds of
primary school teachers in Kaduna failed to score up to 75 per cent when the
test, largely made up of primary four questions, was set for them.
In November, the Kaduna State Universal Basic
Education Board, SUBEB, explained that such teachers can ask for their answer
sheets to be re-graded.
The SUBEB chairman, Nasiru Umar, said the
affected teachers who have spent more than five years in the public service
will be allowed to retire while those who have spent less than five years will
be sacked. All the affected teachers can also reapply in the ongoing
recruitment process.
PREMIUM
TIMES
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