Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state has vowed to carry on with his planned education reform in the state, insisting that no amount of blackmail will stop him. The governor made this known while reacting to criticism of his decision to sack 22,000 teachers who failed a competency test conducted for them in June.
Governor Rufai reiterated his administration’s resolve to revamp education in the state during a consultative meeting with members of the National Assembly from the state on Thursday.
This reform is necessary hard work, and will not be derailed by propaganda, blackmail, and deliberate misrepresentation of facts; reform is not restricted to recruiting and retaining competent teachers,” he said.
He further said,“We are constructing and reconstructing schools, classrooms, updating the curriculum, providing facilities, teaching aids and teachers’ welfare. We removed the career barrier for teachers in 2015; teachers in Kaduna State can rise to Grade Level 17 (Permanent Secretary grade) without having to stop being teachers.”
The governor revealed that the government of Kaduna state has received 43,806 applications from prospective teachers in public primary schools. He said all shortlisted applicants would be subjected to oral and practical examinations.
The governor explained that interview and final verification would also be conducted to ascertain the authenticity of their qualifications.
He further said that the applicants who scale through the screening would undergo further training before their deployment to classrooms.