A test for the primary four class set for about 21,780 teachers in Kaduna State to examine their competence was failed by them.
As a result, the Kaduna State Government said it is shopping for 25,000 new teachers to replace those who failed the test as part of its plans to restore dignity and quality to education.
Governor Nasir el-Rufai unveiled the planned recruitment when he received a World Bank’s delegation in Kaduna on Monday.
“We tested our 33,000 primary schoolteachers, we gave them primary four examination and required that they must get at least 75 per cent but I am sad to announce that 66 per cent of them failed to get the requirements.
“The hiring of teachers in the past was politicised and we intend to change that by bringing in young and qualified primary schoolteachers to restore the dignity of education in the state,” the governor said.
He stressed that teachers would be redeployed across the state to address the challenge of low teacher-pupil ratio.
“We have a challenge with the teacher-pupil ratio in the urban schools; there is concentration of teachers that are not needed.
“In some local government areas, it’s a teacher-pupil ratio of 1-9 while in some places it’s 1-100,” he said.
The governor said in a bid to improve the education sector, school directors decided to enroll their children in public schools starting from this academic session.
