NUT Kicks Against Competency Test In Edo

The Nigerian Union of
Teachers, Edo State chapter, has mobilised scores of teachers in primary and secondary schools throughout the state to protest against the government’s plan to organise a competency test for all teachers in the state.
The teachers under the aegis of the NUT stormed Auchi, Etsako-West Local Council of Edo, rejected the call by the government to subject them to any form of test.
The competency test is coming on the heels of the sack of 836 teachers by the government in 2013, due to falsification of age and certificate forgery, among others.
Speaking on behalf of the teachers, Chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Edo State chapter, Mr Mike Uhunwangho, said that teachers would not participate in the competency test.
He said the protest was being carried out across the state, adding that teachers would not be subjected to the test.
“We are unanimously rejecting the call by the Edo State Government to have us write a fresh competency test to determine our suitability for teaching jobs in the state.
“We have directed all the teachers not to attend any form of competency test nor accept any letter from anybody inviting them for the test,’’ he said.
Uhunwangho said that teachers who had spent years in the profession, could not be subjected by the government to the competency test.
The NUT chairman said that instead of being subjected to the test, the government should embark on training and re-training of teachers, to enable them update their knowledge and skills, for effective teaching.
He said government needed to train teachers and equip them with new skills and ideas, to enable them to be able to perform their duties adequately. Also, members of the Association of Private School Owners of Nigeria (APSON) in Edo State will not participate in the competency test proposed by the state government.
The state Chairman of APSON, Mr Nosakhare Ogbeide, told newsmen in Benin that the association was not officially informed of the policy.
Oshiomhole said that the aim was to cleanse the state’s education sector.
Ogbeide said APSON was against involvement of private school teachers without an official document from the government regarding that.
“We still see it as a rumour and our legal team is trying to sit down and check what will happen from now on.
“We do not know if it is within the jurisdiction of the government to terminate jobs of people it did not employ,”
The state Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, had during a meeting with civil society organisations in Benin on February 5, said that the competency test, to be conducted for teachers of public schools, would be extended to private schools.