Governor Nasir El-Rufai-led Kaduna State Government has dismissed 2,357 teachers who failed the recently conducted competency test.
Kaduna Universal Basic Education Board (KADSUBEB) announced the sack in a statement on Sunday in Kaduna.
KADSUBEB’s spokesperson, Hauwa Mohammed, said the board conducted a competency test for over 30,000 teachers in December 2021.
She said that 2,192 primary school teachers, including the National President of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Audu Amba, had been dismissed for refusing to sit for the competency test.
Ms Mohammed said that some 165 of the 27,662 teachers that sat for the competency test were also sacked for poor performances.
“The services of teachers who scored below 40 per cent are no longer required, and their appointments have been terminated from the Public Service for their poor performances.
“Teachers who scored 75 per cent and above were recognised as those who passed the test and qualified for attending courses in leadership and school management,” she said.
She said qualified teachers would be included in Teacher Professional Development (TPD) programmes to enhance their capacities to deliver quality teaching to pupils.
Reacting, Ibrahim Dalhatu, state chairman, NUT, dismissed the competency test and the sacking of the affected teachers as “illegal”.
Mr Dalhatu said the union had secured a court order restraining the board from conducting the competency test, adding that it conducted the test without recourse to the rule of law.
“The competency test should be used to determine teachers’ capacity gap and tailored specific training programmes to improve their capacities,” he said.
When contacted, the NUT national president said he was aware of the development, adding that the National Executive Council of the union would sit on Wednesday, June 22, to develop a position.
In 2018, the Kaduna government sacked 21,780 teachers who failed a competency test and replaced them with 25,000 others recruited through robust processes.
In December 2021, the board also sacked 233 teachers for allegedly possessing fake certificates.
