I would like to commend your tremendous efforts towards fixing the rot and decay of our education system in Kaduna State. Though, this problem is not only peculiar to Kaduna State but the whole country.
Sir, I must commend these boldness and courageous steps that you have taken because as far as I’m concerned, it’s something that most politicians of this contemporary time will not take because of the fear that they may lose the political offices they hold in the next election. I quite agree with you that this action that you have taken is for the best interest of our future generations.
Sir, as far as I’m concerned, this approach of sacking the incompetent teachers should not be the first step to be taken and they should not be only ones to be blamed. The producers of these incompetent teachers must be blamed first. This is because the Federal Colleges of Education that we have today is nothing but a centre for corruption; where a lecturer would openly tell a student that if you did not buy his/her handouts you have automatically failed even if you score sixty marks in the exams; taking attendance is not their problem. Each grade has its own price and so many things like that. When you come down to our secondary schools where these teachers pass through before going to higher levels of education, you will cry for the future generations of our dear State.
For example, in Zaria Zonal Education Office, we have 49 secondary schools across three local governments, namely, Zaria, Sabon Gari and some parts of Soba Local Government. We have 129 mathematics teachers that teach 62,354 students of the entire zone, 163 English teachers that teach 62,447 students of the entire Zaria zone and also 42 physics teachers that teach 6,804 students, 51 chemistry teachers teach 6,796 students, 62 biology teachers teach10,481 students, 29 government teachers teach 10,653 students and 28 economics teachers teach 8,662 students, this is for the whole Zaria zone. For God’s sake, how can primary school teachers only be blamed for producing poor students?
The government should first of all, retrain the existing primary school teachers that we have because if you sack them you are going to replace them with the same poor teachers as they are all products of the same system. Pay them good salary not one that cannot even take you home.
Employ more secondary school teachers that can teach the overcrowded population we have at secondary schools level. Collaborate with federal government to fish-out all the bad and money-monger lecturers at Federal Colleges of Education. Build more schools to reduce congestion, where you will find 150 students in a class. Provide necessary teaching materials. Sack all those that do not have a minimum of NCE but their entitlements must be promptly paid. Organise frequent workshops and seminars for the teachers. Besides all these, strict supervision and monitoring should be given top priority.
Comrade Hasheem B. Ahnad,
[email protected]
