Sacking 2,357 Kaduna teachers illegal, NUT knocks El-Rufai

The Kaduna State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Ibrahim Dalhatu, has described the competency test conducted by the state government as well as the sack of 2,357 teachers as illegal.

This is just as the state government, through the State Universal Basic Education Board, announced the sack of 2,357 teachers, including the National President of NUT, Audu Amba, over the competency test.

However, on Sunday, the NUT chairman told journalists that the competency test and the sacking of the teachers were illegal.

He said the teachers’ body in the state had earlier secured a court order restraining the board from conducting the test but it ignored the order.

According to him, the NUT in the state asked the teachers not to write the examination after learning that the intent was to sack them.

He said, “We have secured a court order restraining the board from conducting the competency test, it conducted the test without recourse to the rule of law.

“We asked the teachers not to sit for the examination after learning that the intent was to sack them.

“We warned that any teacher who participates in the illegal examination would not be protected by the union if victimised but some of the teachers went ahead to write the examination out of fear.

“We are not against the conduct of the competency test if due process is followed, but it should not be used as a basis for sacking teachers. The competency test should be used to determine teachers’ capacity gap and tailored specific training programmes to improve their capacities.”

The board had, in statement by Hauwa Mohammed, said it a competency test for over 30,000 teachers in Dec. 2021.

She said 2,192 primary school teachers including the National President of the NUT had been dismissed for refusing to sit for the competency test.

According to her, some 165 of the 27,662 teachers that sat for the competency test were also sacked for poor performances.

The statement said, “Following the state government’s resolution for continued assessment of teachers to ensure better delivery of learning outcomes for pupils, KADSUBEB conducted another competency test for the teachers in December 2021.

“The services of teachers who scored below 40 per cent are no longer required and their appointments have been terminated from the Public Service for their poor performances.

“Teachers who scored 75 per cent and above were recognised as those who passed the test and qualified for attending courses in leadership and school management.”