The National Executive Council (NEC) of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, (NUT), has directed its members in Kaduna State not to participate in the competency test being organised by the State government for public primary school teachers next month.
The NUT’s Deputy National President, Kelvin Nwankwo, gave the directive in Kaduna during a meeting with teachers in the State on Wednesday, said the issuance of the directive followed the State government’s plan.
Recall that the Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) had in July announced plans to conduct competency tests for primary school teachers to ensure quality teaching.
The Permanent Member, Human Resource Management, Kaduna SUBEB, Dr. Christy Alademerin, had disclosed that the competency test was to ensure that the State has the best of the best.
We are going to conduct the competency test to either weed out incompetent ones or whatever the outcome will look like, just to maintain the standards, she said.
Reacting to the development, the State wing of the union, in a communiqu on August 18, declared that none of its members in public primary school would sit for the test.
The Deputy National President, who said the unions NEC was behind the decision of the Kaduna State wing, insisted that the teachers competence had been proved by various accredited Universities and Colleges of Education and were also tested before they were hired.
According to him, the NUT affirms and relies on the provisions of Section 1(d) Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) Act, CAP.T3 LFN 2004, which made provisions for the regulation and control of the teaching profession.
He said: As teachers who belong to a professional body, registered and licensed, we shall only subject ourselves to any professional recommendation issued by our Regulatory Council, but no other body.
The NEC had unequivocally resolved that no teacher should be subjected to any form of competency test under any guise or colouration but advised that issues of quality education should be pursued vigorously by the State government and teachers at all levels and at all times.
He advised the State government to embark on a mandatory continuous training programme in line with the practice in all professions, such as nursing, medicine and the legal profession.
The State Chairman, Ibrahim Dalhatu, also stressed that only TRCN was legally empowered to conduct any form of competency test for teachers, adding that teachers would not subject themselves to any test conducted by any other body.
