NLC condemns El-Rufai’s disclosure on teachers poor exam performance

-Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, decries the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El Rufai’s disclosure of teachers poor performance to the public.

-The union calls it cheap propaganda on the part of the governor.

-It says the government should train the teachers more, rather than criticize them publicly.

The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, Kaduna State chapter has criticised Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s disclosure that over 25,000 out of the 33,000 teachers in the state failed the competency test meant for primary four students.

Naija News had reported that the governor said the teachers’ failure would prompt him to recruit 25,000 primary school teachers in a bid to restore dignity and quality to its education sector.

However, the Chairman of the Kaduna chapter of the NLC, Adamu Ango, told Premium Times the governor’s disclosure was erroneus, saying the state government should make the comprehensive results of the said test alongside the international standard of teachers competency examination criteria public.

Naija News gathered that Mr. Ango, who doubles as the state secretary of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, said the governor has not been fair to the primary school teachers he embarrassed publicly.

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“This is the third test conducted on teachers. Where are the rest of the results? What are the criteria, who are the bodies that are supposed to conduct these exams? What is the agreed internationally accepted pass marks and the unconcluded verification exercise?

He explained that it was the duty of Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, TRCN to conduct professional examinations for teachers and not the governor.

“Or can the government organise examinations for medical doctors or lawyers? You cannot just come and set examinations and call it ‘primary four’ exam when we know it is not for primary four.

“This is just a cheap media propaganda. There is also more of politics in this examination than even the standard they are talking about. They just want to give a dog a bad name to hang it.

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“What the government is saying about teachers in the state is not correct. By tomorrow, we, together with the Nigeria Union of Teachers, shall ensure that the correct results are available to the public to judge,” he said.

He said the state ought to train the teachers more, rather than condemn and berate them.

“What they should have done is to send them on capacity building training and do away with the few bad ones who may have performed below standard.”

Mr. Ango also claimed that the state government is still owing 2016 leave grants of teachers.

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“And they want to sack 20,000 out of 36,000 teachers and employ 25,000. The government just wants to do something like being crafty because they have this in mind, to reduce the number of teachers. There is no way they will do it, that is why they brought in this examination of a thing to drive home what they have in their mind,” he said.

A few of the teachers anonymously told Premium Times said the governor should reveal their test results to the public, adding that the governor was not fair in his assessment.

“In fact, they (state) has already sacked 100 teachers who were employed in 2008 and 2009 in Kaduna South Local Government even before this competency examination is conducted,” a teacher in one of the primary schools visited said.