Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State says that 15,897 successful applicants for teaching appointment in the state’s public primary schools would be subjected to another screening to fish out smuggled ones.
El-Rufai stated this in Kaduna on Friday, during a meeting with stakeholders and development partners to discuss modalities for the final selection of the new teachers.
He explained that report on his tabled alleged that names of some unqualified teachers, including those who failed the recruitment screening exercises have been smuggled into the final list of successful applicants.
“It is your duty to fish them out and ensure that no bad teacher made the final list, “he told the screening panels.
El-Rufa’i who went on his knees begged the panels that would conduct the final screening not to be corrupt and sentimental on grounds of ethnicity or religion.
“Ensure that all applicants pass through the eyes of the needle to give us the best teachers you can find, “the governor said.
Malam Ja’afaru Sani, the state’s Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, noted that this was the first time recruitment screening exercise was vigorous.
“This is because of the criteria that were set to guide the process of ensuring that only the best are selected to teach our children.
“I also appealed to you to be fair and just in your duty, as anything short of the best will be viewed as sabotage and officers involved would be compulsory retired or sanctioned based on the provision of the civil service rule, ” the commissioner said.
Earlier, the Executive Chairman of the state’s Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Malam Nasiru Umar, said that the list of successful applicants would be pasted today, Friday, Feb. 23 in all local government education secretariats.
Umar explained that a panel of three would screen the successful applicants in each of the 23 local government areas.
He said that the exercise would last for 10 days starting from Tuesday, Feb. 27, adding that every panel was expected to screen 70 applicants per day.
Similarly, Permanent Member I on the Board, Mrs Mary Abi, said that the panel will make the final decision on the suitability or otherwise of the applicants based on the credibility of their credentials, response to questions and quality of their acceptance letter.
“Where an applicant is found unsuitable, the offer letter may be withdrawn immediately.
“Those found suitable would be posted to schools based on need as soon as they complete appraisal process.
“We also expected the team to recommend those four suitable for the position of responsibility, particularly those with good scores and proficient in information and communication technology,” Ambi said.
Also speaking, Dr Taiwo Adekunle, State Team Leader, Teacher Development Programme, commended the state government for the milestone toward sanitising the sector.
Similarly, Dr Hafsat Kontagora of Education Data, Research and Evaluation in Nigeria, described the vigorous screening process as the revolution necessary for a robust education sector.
On his part, Malam Kabiru Yar’adua, the Director, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria in the state, commended the state government for the laudable step toward ensuring that only competent and professional teachers are allowed to teach.
