I am constrained as a retired teacher to write on the competence of my colleagues. I want to be proud of teachers in Kogi state, especially those trained up to the time teacher training institutions were abolished.
With the inception of NTI crash program whereby politically motivated employment of primary and school cert holders were rushed to some classrooms to obtain NCE certificates after a year training.
As a unionist then, I raised objection to politicians compensating their supporters with PAs that invariably transmit to real classroom teachers today. You can imagine the quality of teaching of these numerous teachers in question.
But my advise and objection was wrong. I can authoritatively assert that all teachers trained through the conventional 3years NCE program are good except those who we know bought certificates from those institutions.
Quality regulation is good but should not be politicised. Why can’t the certificates be screened to ascertain the genuineness?
The quality test of workers should not be limited to teachers but spread across, including the so-called politicians many of whom cannot even write their names. Many appointees have no certificates. Are they not public officers?
Nurses, doctors, local government staff, directors, permanent secretaries, principals, headmasters are equally guilty of these.
I have worked with a female NYSC corp member who could not express herself. If competency test must come up, let all be affected except pensioners.
I am in full support of competency test, if done with honesty. I can even participate in the screening inasmuch as it will bring development to the already rotten education system.
Finally, we have started feeling the impact of fast decreasing quality of education from the performance of those in the offices or officers assigned to administer or supervise education in the state. Ask a supervisor to construct simple statement, you will be disappointed. Reason is that those appointments have been tribalised, trivialised and bastardised. Junior officers are made supervisors over seniors. Those in the offices who are juniors are lords over vulnerable and hard working headmasters.
– Hon Elesho Joseph Abiodun
