The Kaduna State Wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has accused the Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board (Kaduna SUBEB) of pressuring its members to write a competency test for public primary school teachers.
Mr Ibrahim Dalhatu, the State Chairman, made the allegation at a news conference in Kaduna on Saturday.
Dalhatu also accused Kaduna SUBEB of assisting the police in the arrest and detention of two union members while “on duty to discourage their members from sitting for the examination.”
“Another threat from the same quarters is the removal of teachers’ names from the payroll and the nonpayment of salaries to those who refuse to take the exam.”
“The threats made by SUBEB, Education Secretaries, and other government officials through the media to coerce and intimidate our members into taking this competency test will not change our position.”
“We would like to inform the general public that this singular act will not deter us from our position of ‘no to competency test,’ but rather will encourage us to continue in the struggle because victory is assured.”
“This is because, whether we write the test or not, SUBEB is hell-bent on disengaging some of us by any means possible,” he explained.
He also accused the board of hiring people to pose as teachers and take the exam in some of the centers.
“Prior to the test, which began on December 7, we collected commitment forms, which were duly signed by teachers indicating their intention not to write the test.”
“However, to our surprise, Kaduna SUBEB hired some people to pose as teachers in order to write the examination, which they used to intimidate some of our members into writing the examination,” he explained.
He stated that the NUT had obtained an interlocutory injunction preventing SUBEB from conducting the competency test, but that the board still went ahead with the test, demonstrating disregard for the rule of law.
He warned that any teacher who took part in what he called a “illegal examination” would not be protected by the union if they were victimized.
According to him, the union’s decision not to write the test remains the most effective tool for victory in this struggle, adding that only the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria has the authority to assess teachers’ competence.
When contacted, Mr Ahmed Sani, Director of Human Resources at Kaduna SUBEB, described the allegations as “baseless.”
Sani stated that because the NUT does not employ teachers, it cannot decide how to test teachers to ensure quality teaching and learning in public schools on behalf of the government.
A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent who visited one of the test centers, located at Kaduna State University, reports a large turnout of teachers to take the examination.
Some of the teachers who spoke on the condition of anonymity said they decided to write the exam in defiance of the NUT directive because they were afraid of being fired.
“We were advised to write the exam or risk dismissal on the grounds that we were not employed by NUT but by the state government,” some of them told NAN.