Governor Nasiru El-Rufai, on Tuesday, while receiving representatives of the World Bank in Kaduna as led by Dr Olatunde Adekola, said that about 21,780 Teachers of the 33,000 Teachers who wrote the competency test, administered by the State Government failed.
“We tested 33,000 Primary School Teachers, we gave them primary four examination and required they must get at least 75% but I am sad to announce that 66% of them failed to get the requirements”.
From the Governor’s statement, it is clear that some of the Teachers who sat for the examination may have passed the Primary Four Test given to them by the standard definition of pass, but failed to meet up with the set percentage of 75.
What kind of questions did Kaduna State Government ask the Teachers that over 20,000 of them could not get the set percentage?
There were 5 major questions, with sub questions, around:
1. Comprehension and Summary – In which teachers were asked to answer questions from a passage relating to Anti-Corruption. The format for answering was in theory as against multi-choice system. The piece was titled “Corruption Must Go” and was basically a short explanation of what EFCC, ICPC and Code of Conduct Bureau stands for. It was basic information which could have been answered by informed adults without reading the passage.
2. Principle of Teaching – Also theory styled, this section asked the teachers about teaching practices like lesson note and teaching method. It was a section requiring some level of education or information in the discipline of Education itself.
3. Mathematics – This area dealt on basic things like identifying shapes, simple multiplication, basic addition and simple logic.
4. Social Studies – Enlightenment was tested here with questions ranging from family responsibilities to simple knowledge of happenings around the teachers. Except for a social studies teacher, this part is opinion and information based despite constituting 20% of the Marks with just 6% less for failure.
5. Primary Science – this section was the most criticized of all. While it started with a single Biology, Agriculture, Physics and IT question respectively. It soon degenerated into current affairs with questions like name of Governor, Minister and SUBEB Chairman among others. Of the 22 Questions ETN24 sampled, 9 were Current Affairs.
All Sections had 20 mark except for Comprehension and Summary. It was not clear how the remaining 5 marks was decided.
Last month the State’s Commissioner for Education emphasized that the test, which he said will be set by the National Open University, was not aimed at witch hunting anyone or group of people. Prof. Andrew Nok added that teachers who could not pass the test will have a small window of survival after which they will have to be dismissed.
Governor Nasiru El Rufai has already announced that the teachers who did not pass will be laid off and 25,000 new teachers will be employed.
