The Nation Newspaper

Tag: teachers

  • Seventy-nine former teachers to be detained in post-coup probe

    Seventy-nine former teachers to be detained in post-coup probe

    Turkish authorities issued detention warrants on Friday for 79 former teachers, the state-run Anadolu news agency said, as part of a widening crackdown since 2016 failed coup attempt.

    The teachers were formerly employed at schools allegedly linked to U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of orchestrating last July’s abortive putsch, Anadolu said.

    The schools were shut down after the coup attempt.

    Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies involvement.

    Anadolu said security forces were carrying out operations to capture the suspects in Ankara, where thousands of teachers from across the country arrived to visit the mausoleum of Mustafa Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, to celebrate the national teachers’ day.

    Since the abortive coup, more than 50,000 people have been jailed pending trial over alleged links to Gulen, while some 150,000 people have been sacked or suspended from jobs in the military, public and private sectors.

    Rights groups and some of Turkey’s Western allies have voiced concern about the crackdown, fearing the government is using the coup as a pretext to quash dissent.

    The government says only such a purge could neutralise the threat represented by Gulen’s network, which it says deeply infiltrated institutions such as the army, schools and courts.

  • How can 22,000 teachers be wrong?

    It is easy indeed to point fingers, but let us remember the most important fingers are pointing back at us. We are all guilty.

    You remember how they used to tell us that thirty million Nigerians could not be wrong about Abacha being the best choice for Nigeria at a time in our history? Well, thirty million Nigerians were wrong. Now, we are being told that 22,000 teachers in Kaduna State are wrong because they failed the competency examination set for them. They had failed the equivalent of Primary Four level examinations. But, how can 22,000 teachers be wrong?

    I must be the only person in this wild kingdom who is not scandalized by this piece of news. Like everyone else, I saw the sample answers but unlike everyone else though, I did not panic. I simply went back to my bowl of amala. I am used to people failing exams. Heck, I am even used to people refailing exams. This means they fail the resit, and have to do a resit of the resit.

    Nigeria, we have a problem, but I do believe we have had this disaster coming to us for a long time. Many words now in the ocean from this column and others had talked about this situation and warned that the nation was sitting on an educational powder keg that would blow sky high any moment. No one batted an eye lid. Now, the fat’s in the fire, and everyone is all atwitter, literally.

    Now, it’s time to talk turkey. It’s almost turkey time, anyway; Christmas is near. But we are not talking that kind of turkey. We are talking the kind of cold turkey that should send the shivers down our spine, if we have any. It is easy indeed to get hot under our shirt collars when it comes to pointing fingers, but let us remember that the most important fingers are pointing back at us. We are all guilty.

    Let’s start with where to pitch the blame. I believe it is at everyone’s door: teachers, union officials, governors, politicians, state functionaries, local and national legislatives, and oh yes, let’s not forget the president of the country. Believe it or not, there are in each state of the country, thirty-six times 22,000 teachers waiting to be discovered the way these ones were. Their hour has just not come, that’s all.

    The most important yet neglected avenue for national development is education. Unfortunately, politicians and pseudo-politicians who people the corridors of power and take decisions do not care much for that fact. They do not believe that the matter of education is a serious matter; neither do they believe that the future of the country depends on the outcome of their decisions. At best, I think most, if not all, our folks in agbada who make policies on education only see it as the universally approved means of getting the young ones out of the house and out of their way so that they, the elders, can get on with the serious matter of sharing the country’s money. So, if Mr. El-Rufai is serious about these tests, then there are a few more he should apply.

    I think he should start by testing our agbada-totting policy makers and see if anyone of them knows anything beyond the fact that the schools under them exist. Very few know how many schools they have, including those under trees. Fewer still know anything about a mission statement for them; and even fewer still can articulate any dream or vision for them. Most do not care about how to turn out pupils that can think and innovate for tomorrow and be nation builders. They only care about the business end of it and hope that the survival of the fittest dictum will prove itself once again.

    Then we should test Mr. President to try to discover why education gets only seven per cent, or thereabouts, of the budget, instead of the recommended fifty per cent, or thereabouts, and he is able to sleep well at night. We must get the fact out of him somehow. Unfortunately, that will lead us to testing the Nigerian educational system too which, being so highly and extremely volatile and underfunded in the wrong places, does not support the engaging of the appropriately qualified teachers. It’s a little like an aging woman’s figure: bulging where it should not, like the waist, and thinning out where it shouldn’t, like the hair. Yep, very volatile.

    Naturally, this breeds other problems such as insufficient resources; e.g. room to grow. Now, I’m not talking about an aging woman; I’m talking about sufficient classrooms for the ever bloating number of students in search of a certificate, real or not. Classroom shortage is a clear and present problem that cuts across the entire country and the gamut of all the institutions. I tell you, very few Nigerian students take lectures in reasonably comfortable environments.

    Then, we should really test the teacher recruiting system and see if it can pass the most basic, rudimentary, Primary I exam questions: who recruits and what system is used? Do they recruit qualified teachers or their relatives or the relatives of politicians who push their untrained parasites into the educational system? After all, they tell themselves, ‘anybody can teach.’ If we went through these 22,000 teachers, you might be surprised how many of them were engaged ‘as a favour’ to someone. Favour is a political noose.

    Even most of the ones who went through teacher-training systems are no prize winners either. The schools are overcrowded. The teachers are overwhelmed. The resources are not renewed because institution heads please themselves first before taking care of anything else. The result is that most students are under-taught, under-achieving and not really interested in the job.

    Most importantly, Nigerians as a whole are not really interested in self-development, a concept that keeps an individual ahead of his time, place and comperes. They are more interested in things that bring prompt and instant monetary gratification for individuals. So, many of us teachers are the same way we are twenty years after we begin. The only change in our lives can be found in the salaries we earn. That must grow from year to year even as our brains seem to decline in direct proportion or there will be trouble…

    Then there is the fact that Nigerians really have no respect for teachers. How do I know? Government finds it so easy to owe teachers months and even years of salary and not feel bad. For most teachers, there is no motivation to move them out of bed every morning. Who gets out of bed for the prospect of going to face, and vainly teach, a roomful of increasingly pampered children, many of whom can no longer be handled at home? What then is there to motivate a teacher to do well? The result is that many teachers do not respect themselves or their jobs or their pupils or the government…

    I am a lot more pessimistic than most people. I am thinking that if these 22,000 people are sacked, they would find their way back in the same way they got in the first time: via the Nigerian system. I think the way to go is not to throw the lot out like bad bathwater. Rather, I think it is better to institute a compulsory training system which would see each person desire to lift him/herself up.

    Establishing a strong motivation that would make an individual respect him/herself might also help. Indeed, it is strongly recommended. Seriously, when there is no self-respect, man, the heart is beneath one’s boots and picking it up from there in the mornings is a herculean task. Motivation, on the other hand, does wonders. Someone said recently that there is no stronger cure for any illness now than a bank credit alert. Strongest motivation. Let’s try it, or something close to it.

     

  • Shehu Sani goofed on Kaduna teachers!

    SIR: Senator Shehu Sani’s criticism of Nasir El-Rufai’s decision on sacking those far-below-average teachers in Kaduna State is highly condemnable.

    Every profession that deals with life directly should not be taken with levity. And teaching is one of those professions.

    Can Senator Shehu Sani allow any of those teachers to take his children in a private home lesson?

    This is not a topic to play politics with.

    I would have agreed with his criticism if it is on the fact that the state government committed recruitment error in the first place by employing such class of people, as most of them got employed through the man-know-man syndrome vampire rampaging in our society.

    There are lots of brains wasting in the labour market today for the future of the country to be left to academic mediocres.

    Sacking them from education sector is a good thing. But they should be given an alternative to feed their women and children lest they get recruited by men of the underworld in the region, leveraging on their idle hands.

    Governor El-Rufai should consider replacing them in the state’s farming sector which will help the economy of Kaduna State in return.

    They are not a waste. But not just fit for this particular field.  What never got spoilt in a day cannot be repaired in just a day.

    However, this is a step in a right direction from Governor El-Rufai.

     

    • Bamidele Williams,

    Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

  • Kaduna teachers’ sack: Assembly raises probe panel

    The Kaduna State House of Assembly has raised a seven-man committee, led by Deputy Majority Leader Idris Abduwahab, to investigate teachers’ grievances and proffer ideas to improve education.

    The committee is to submit its report this week, he added.

    The Assembly lamented last week’s attack on its officers and the complex by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), in which property worth millions of naira were destroyed.

    The NLC, last week, protested alleged plans by the government to sack 21,780 primary school teachers, who failed a competency test. The protest was led by NLC’s President Ayuba Wabba.

    The Chairman, House Committee on Information and Home Affairs, Nuhu Goroh Shadalafia and Chairman, House Committee on Establishment Hassan Abdulkadir, were allegedly attacked.

    According to Shadalafia, the lawmakers were almost lynched by the protesters who broke the glass wall of the Assembly’s main office, pursued them and vandalised cars and other property.

    The lawmaker said none of them has received a petition or complaint from their constituency on the planned sack. He urged the teachers and workers to follow laid down rules on protest.

    “Nobody has been given three months’ notice; nobody has been stopped from going to school; nobody has been asked to pack out of their quarters. The House is taking note of the damaged facility, and would report to the government.

    “I have formally written a letter of complaint on what transpired in the leadership of the House and government would decide what to do,” Shadalafia stated.

  • Ekiti 2018: Bejide promises better deal for teachers

    Ekiti 2018: Bejide promises better deal for teachers

    Ekiti State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant Ambassador Dare Bejide has promised to defend the rights of teachers, if elected as governor.

    He urged government at all levels to ensure that the primacy of education is given priority.

    Bejide, stated this in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, through the Director General of his campaign organization, Dr. Kunle Folayan, while speaking with some teachers.

    According to him, Nigeria should learn from the experience of developed countries where the remuneration of teachers towers above other professions.

    He said: “An instructive experience was that of Germany where President Angela Merkel recently rebuffed agitations of top public servants for higher wages than what teachers earn, by saying she would not pay them salaries higher than those of the teachers who taught them in school.

    “Research has shown that teachers are the most important school-based factor in determining student achievement. Comprehensive teacher effectiveness reform must include bringing accountability to teacher preparation.”

    Bejide said that teachers in the state would enjoy better support from his government, if voted into power, because teachers are important in the development of the society.

    The aspirant attributed inability to pay salaries across the country to age-long reliance on proceeds from oil revenue and thereby promising a better days ahead in the state as his government would improve internally generated revenue.

    Bejide however, called on the federal government to look at the challenges facing teachers from a national perspective in order to get the required attention in proffering solutions to the problems.

    The leader of the teachers group,  expressed concern over the current economic challenges, saying that workers and teachers in particular are the worst hit by the present economic crisis.

    He urged the Federal Government to take over the responsibilities of funding primary education as the finance of the local government is over-burdened and cannot cope with such responsibilities.

  • Deceased teachers, messengers “passed” teachers’ test – NUT

    Deceased teachers, messengers “passed” teachers’ test – NUT

    Deceased and retired teachers, messengers and security personnel were listed among “teachers” that passed the test conducted for primary school teachers in Kaduna State, according to the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT).

    Malam Yahaya Abbas, NUT Chairman in Zaria Local Government, disclosed this on Tuesday in Zaria, while reacting to a mass protest by primary school pupils in Sabon-Gari.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the pupils were protesting against the sack of 21,000 teachers said to have scored less than 75 per cent in a test set set for them.

    “The result of the examination showed that only three or four teachers passed in many schools.

    “In some schools, retired teachers and teachers that died a long time ago were among those that passed.

    “The list of successful teachers sent to some schools also included names of their messengers and security personnel,” he alleged.

    The NUT chairman alleged that names of senior staff, especially those on level 14 and above, were absent from among those that passed, raising the suspicion that government was only out to sack them so as to reduce cost.

    Also reacting to the protest, NUT Chairman, Sabon Gari Local Government, Malam Rabi’u Usman, described the action of the pupils as their “personal opinion not influenced by anybody”.

    He said, however, that the children’s action was “a right step in the right direction”, and called on government to “do something urgently to save the situation”.

    Usman said that the union was not opposed to the examination, but was against the pass mark of 75 per cent, declaring that there was no examination with such a high pass mark.

    The chairman appealed to government to rescind its decision to sack the teachers before the expiration of the union’s ultimatum, or face the consequences.

    NAN reports that the primary school pupils had taken to Zaria streets to protest the sack of their teachers, and vowed to resist the action by the Kaduna Government.

    The pupils, who massed into all routes in the city, carried leaves and posters of Gov. Nasiru El-Rufa’i with “ba ma so” (we do not want this), written under it.

    Some of the pupils, who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity, said that they were out of the classes and on the streets to register their objection to the sack of the teachers.

    The pupils appealed to the Kaduna State Government to reverse the decision in the interest of quality education in the state.

    Reacting to the protest, the Kaduna State government accused teachers of “endangering” the lives of the poor children by throwing them into the streets.

    The government, in a statement signed by Samaila Aruwan, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Media and Publicity, warned that it would not accept such child abuse by teachers that had failed a simple test and were not qualified to teach.

    It said that government’s action was in the best interest of the education sector, adding that quality teachers were being recruited to shore up the fortunes of the sector. (NAN)

  • 21,780 Kaduna teachers to be disengaged

    •25,000 to be engaged

    The Kaduna State government will disengage 21,780 teachers for incompetency, it was learnt yesterday.

    Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Nasiru Umar, said at a news conference yesterday, that any teacher who failed the primary four test should approach the committee raised to look into their complaints. Their scripts could be re-marked, he added.

    Of the 33,00 primary school teachers who sat for the examination, 21,780 failed.

    However, the Kaduna State Executive Council approved the outcome of the competency test, and directed that 25,000 teachers be recruited.

    Umar explained that applicants must have relevant certificates, including one from the Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).

    He reiterated that the exercise has no political undertone, saying the government’s concern was to revive education, especially in rural areas.

    Ciroma added that those who failed the test can apply and undergo the recruitment process.

    His words: “Thirty-three thousand primary school teachers sat for the competency tests agreed upon by stakeholders, including Nigeria Union of teachers (NUT). Twenty-one thousand, seven hundred and eighty scored below 75 per cent. We conducted the test because we discovered that schools were in bad shape. Some teachers cannot speak English.

    “We started training them but we discovered they won’t improve. We released names of those who scored 75 and above. Those who failed will get three months’ notice for disengagement. All teachers, including those who failed the test, should resume work tomorrow (today) and wait further directives.

    “Those above five years will be retired, but those below will be disengaged. Those who failed can still apply in the recruitment.

    “We should not bring politics into education; we presented the results to the committee involving the NUT, TRCN and others. The NUT wanted the pass mark to be 60. All stakeholders were involved in the test.”

  • Enugu govt regularises employment of 857 volunteer teachers

    DISTURBED by the hardship the volunteer teachers, who were engaged during the past administration in Enugu State were passing through, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s administration has announced the regularisation of 857 of such volunteers, who are graduates as permanent staff of the state government under the Post Primary Schools Management Board (PPSMB).

    Briefing journalists after the meeting of the State Executive Council (EXCO), the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Ogbuagu Anikwe, who was accompanied by his counterparts in Health and Works and Infrastructure ministries, Dr. Fintan Ekochin and Engr. Greg Nnaji, said that the council took the decision in line with the fourpoint agenda of the government with regard to quality education and empowerment in the rural areas.

    The Information Commissioner explained that the volunteers had a combination of graduates and retired teachers, adding that after certain considerations that will enhance productivity and help improve the standard learning in the rural areas, 857 of the volunteer teachers were considered for regularization.

    Mr. Anikwe also disclosed that the council in an effort to improve the quality of education in the rural areas, approved the establishment of two Army Command Secondary boarding schools in the state to be located in Enugu West and North Senatorial Districts, considering the fact that Enugu East already has one, located at the premises of the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu. He further stated that the proposed school at Enugu North Senatorial District will be sited at Boys High School, Orba, Udenu Local Government Area while that of Enugu West will be at Mpu Youth Centre at Aninri Local Government Council, adding that funds have been approved for upgrade of the facilities.

    The Commissioner stressed that the state government was focused on delivering the dividends of democracy to the rural areas and revealed that there is a proposal for the recruitment of more 1000 teachers for the rural communities, saying “our people need to really understand the concerted efforts of our governor towards the full implementation of his administration’s four-point agenda”.

    Also speaking, the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Nnaji equally told journalists that the council approved the release of the first tranche of N75 million out of a total sum of N250 million as Enugu RAMP-2 Counterpart Fund for 2017, “to improve transport conditions and bring sustained access to the rural population, through rehabilitating and maintaining key rural transport infrastructure in a sustainable manner in selected Nigerian states”.

    He noted that the project is a collaboration between the Enugu State Government and the World Bank, the French Development Agency (AFD), the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Project Management (FPMU) RAMP, Abuja, following a recent meeting held at the Government House, Enugu. Engr. Nnaji stated that the council approved four RAMP projects (feeder roads) in the rural areas at the sum of N3.1 billion, covering 143.5 kilometers that would impact positively on the economic fortunes of the state, declaring that “the season of massive construction has come”.

  • US trains 460 students, teachers on robotics

    The United States Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria, in collaboration with RoboRave International, a US-based robotics education academy, has begun a week-long robotics workshop for 460 elementary, secondary and university students, STEM teachers, robotics enthusiasts, and scientists.

    Holding at the American corner at the Co-Creation Hub (CCHUB), Yaba, Lagos, it will end at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library Complex, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

    The workshop seeks to boost technology education by engaging the participating students in hands-on robotics activities to stimulate their interest in mathematics and science as well as careers in the STEM fields.

    One hundred robots will be donated to participating schools in Lagos and Ogun states, many of them with little or no experience in robotics. This is expected to provide the students and their teachers with an opportunity to put their skills to use on the completion of the training.

    The US Consul-General, F. John Bray, explained that the US Mission was supporting the capacity building workshop in hopes that participants will be inspired to work collaboratively with the aid of technology to create innovative solutions to shared global challenges.

    “In a world that is becoming increasingly technology-driven, it is more important than ever before for our youth to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to become innovators, educators, researchers and leaders, who can solve the most pressing challenges facing our world, both today and tomorrow.

    “We are honoured to support this initiative, which promotes science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects collectively known as STEM in Nigeria,” Consul-General Bray said.

    Programme partner and Director RoboRAVE Nigeria, Mr. Kingsley Imade, explained that the training sessions would be facilitated by an international faculty, including RoboRAVE International Director of Global Programmes Russ Fisher-Ives and RoboRAVE North American Director, Brian Montoya.

    According to him, the sessions, focusing on robotics designs and programming, will provide a platform for teachers to learn how to implement the STEM approach in the educational process via practical scientific activities throughout the training days.

    “An education to develop robotics skills places students on track to develop such STEM enabling competencies like critical and computational thinking, collaboration and creativity that have life-long advantages,” Director, RoboRAVE Nigeria, Kingsley Imade, said.

     

  • 31% of Sokoto teachers ‘unqualified’

    No fewer than 31 per cent per cent of public schools teachers in Sokoto State are unqualified,  Chairman, Sub-committee on state of emergency in the education sector Dr. Shadi Sabeh has said.

    He said the teachers were, however, trainable and their qualifications would be consolidated to fit them into the classrooms.

    This was part of the recommendation the committee submitted to Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

    The committee is expected to proffer solutions to challenges in the education sector.

    Further, the committee recommended the employment of 548 teachers more to achieve a teacher/student ratio of 1:40, the standard set for public schools.

    Presenting the report at Government House, Sabeh, said a total of 360 schools were assessed, adding that it discovered an imbalance in teachers’ distribution, especially between rural and urban areas.

    “There’s need to repost 537 teachers from some schools that are over-staffed within the Sokoto metropolis to the many that are lacking teachers in rural areas,” Sabeh said.

    According to him, another area of concern is the need to boost Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure in schools as 73 per cent of teachers surveyed lacked computer skills.

    “The government must enforce compliance with Federal Government’s directives that all teachers must be registered with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN). At the moment, only 14 per cent of the teachers have the necessary registration”.

    He added: “In general, there is an ardent and urgent need for a robust capacity building programme that will close the training gap among teachers in the state. This is against the backdrop that 90 per cent of teachers surveyed have not attended any form of training, workshop and seminar in the last three years.”

    Tambuwal assured that the report would be implemented, while other measures put in place to ensure a turnaround in the fortunes of the sector.

    He said a new training schedule would be drawn up by the government to ensure all teachers are provided with opportunities for refresher courses.

    “I want to commend the members of the sub-committee for a diligent job. The people and government of Sokoto State will forever be proud of your service,” he added.