Kaduna to sack teachers who fail proficiency, competency test

It may be the end of the road for primary school teachers in Kaduna State, who failed the recently conducted proficiency and competency test.

This is because the state government has said in clear terms that teachers that themselves need education, have no place in classrooms in the state.

The test conducted in 123 centres across the 23 local councils by the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), was at the behest of the state government, and was mandatory for all primary school teachers in the state.

The state Commissioner for Education, Prof. Andrew Nok, who said the test was “for effective and quality service delivery at stake,” expressed shock at the performance of some of the teachers.

“You will be surprised to know that someone teaching science, for example, could not define science. Such a person has no business teaching in our schools. What we want to do is to know who is teaching what in our schools and whether the person is competent enough to teach,” Nok said after monitoring the exercise.

On the allegation by the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), and the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), that the exercise was a vehicle to lay off teachers, Nok begged to differ stressing that nothing could be further from the truth.

“The exercise was not designed to witch-hunt anyone. Those that do not fit in the profession will be transferred to areas they could make impact and those that are beyond redemption, I am sorry, they will have to go.”

A representative of vice chancellor of NOUN, Prof. Grace Joktan, in her remarks said, “The vice chancellor, Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu, had directed NOUN to apply the school standard examination mechanism in the conduct of the exercise. NOUN as a school that prides itself in quality assurance should be at the forefront of setting quality moral gauge in examinations.”