The Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) Kaduna Wing, is set to protest against the sack of the 21,780 teachers by the State Government, claiming that the agreement was to retrain and not disengage the teachers.
The State Chairman of the Union, Mr Audu Amba made this known on Monday in a press conference in Kaduna.
Amba claim the Union, with the support of the National body will be going on strike as the Governor has failed to keep his side of the agreement.
“We supported the competency test on the grounds that 60 per cent would be the pass mark and those that failed would be re-trained.
“The Governor (Nasir El-Rufa’i), however, pegged 75 per cent as pass mark and released the names of 21,780 that failed for disengagement.
“We wrote a letter to the governor to reconsider his decision, but he went ahead to announce the list of teachers to be disengaged.
“We have even approached the National Industrial Court to determine whether the State government had the mandate to conduct competency test for teachers.”
He further noted that if the Government failed to reverse its decisions, the State’s public Secondary and primary schools will be shut down.
The protest is coming after the State announced preparation to replaced teachers who failed the competency test.
The Executive Chairman of Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Nasiru Umar, said in a Statement that the Kaduna Executive Council had approved the recruitment of new teachers to replace the ones that failed the test.
He said the teachers who are not satisfied with the results should file complaint, as SUBEB released the names of the teachers who failed the test.
Umar also added that the new recruitment will ensure that potential candidates have the relevant credentials, including the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria.
“No more sharing of appointment of teachers among the officials. This time around, government is determined to employ competent teachers as part of efforts to revive education in Kaduna State.
“We have so far received over 13,000 applications at the SUBEB headquarters.
‘’Some applicants submitted their applications at the local government headquarters for the recruitment of new teachers,” Umar further stated.
The Chairman added that three months’ notice will be given to those who failed the test for disengagement, but nevertheless, teachers should resume their duty and wait for further directives.
Last Month, Kaduna State Government had announced that 21, 780 teachers were given a Primary Four test to which 66% did not meet the 75% pass mark set by the Government.
