Oshiomhole’s U-turn on dubious teachers GOVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State failed a leadership test when he reinstated 936 teachers caught with phoney documents, having sacked them earlier. Besides, a planned competence test for the state’s teachers has been cancelled. This sudden reversal of what is undoubtedly a sound policy on education is unfortunate; and will indelibly remain one of the dark spots of his tenure. Ordinarily, forgery is a grievous offence in most societies. But when the offenders are teachers hired to shape the destinies of children, then the society is in serious trouble. A person is guilty of forgery if he or she makes a false instrument, with the intention of using it to induce somebody to accept it as genuine, and by reason of so accepting it, to do or not to do some act to his own or any other person’s prejudice. And that is exactly what the governor alleged the sacked teachers did. Justifying his action then, Oshiomhole had said, “We have too many quacks masquerading as teachers….and it was only natural that I had to find (the) courage to deal with this human element, which makes all the difference.” He also alleged that some teachers ought to have retired 10 years earlier, but they reduced their ages in order to remain in the system. Now, how did Oshiomhole lose courage? This regrettable saga owes its origin to a discovery in August 2013. A female primary school teacher of 18 years standing was incapable of reading her age declaration affidavit before a panel set up to screen teachers. Oshiomhole, who visited the panel at work, was shocked and vowed to sanitise the system. He wondered how a person, who was incapable of reading, could write on the blackboard for pupils. He said, “We found that of all our primary school teachers, only 1,287, representing nine per cent, out of 14,484 teachers, had proper and accurate records in our system.” The governor’s somersault on principle, firmness and what is for the greater good of the larger society is an ill-considered action and condemnable. When those in the saddle of leadership consider selfish and partisan interests above the public good, there is danger ahead. In defending his government’s blunder, the governor said the action was a product of “consultations” with various stakeholders, who in this case were the local branches of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress. But there should be a limit to compromise. By and large, the governor has sacrificed the future of Edo State pupils by allowing this group to continue as teachers. The so-called training programme for the teachers to remedy their deficiencies in pedagogy will certainly not help those without knowledge in any of the subjects they purport to teach. We insist that the competence test is still relevant. It will help the state to know those teachers that need help; and those who are irredeemable. With the 2015 elections very close, the retirement of those above 60 years, who falsified records to remain in service, will certainly not happen. Based on the governor’s revelation last year, 13,194 teachers had falsified service profiles. Now, the entire filth has been swept under the carpet by his action. These misfits in the classroom are not in Edo State alone; they are in almost all the states. All over the country, there is a glut of counterfeit documents that are easily obtained in flea markets and clandestine printing shops. A total of 207,818 unqualified teachers were identified nationwide in 2010 by the Federal Government. In the North-East, 57.7 per cent of the teachers were unqualified. The North-West zone had 46.8 per cent; North-Central 38 per cent; South-South 19.2 per cent; South-East 16.7 per cent and South-West 6.7 per cent. It is for this reason, among others, that UNESCO has classified Nigeria as having the worst education indicators globally. If the Kaduna State Government had not screened its teachers in 2011, it would not have discovered that 2,000 of them had fake certificates. Its Commissioner for Education then, Usman Mohammed, stated at an education summit that 1,300 out of 1,599 of the state’s teachers failed woefully in arithmetic and basic literacy tests meant for primary four pupils. Where pupils are unable to learn the basics of reading and writing in the primary school, a country’s entire educational structure is in jeopardy. This is why results from the West African Senior School Certificate and National Examination Council examinations have been perennially poor. Apart from Oshiomhole’s slide, a former governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim, recently blamed himself for sacking 400 teachers, discovered to have got jobs with fake certificates. His regret was based on the assumption that the action was not politically sagacious or expedient. This is retrogressive thinking. We wager that Ekiti State teachers’ resistance to Governor Kayode Fayemi’s bid to conduct competence test for them, before the last governorship poll, which some argue weighed against him, may have swayed Oshiomhole’s mind. Erecting a solid foundation for the country’s education is like making an omelette: an egg must be broken. Primary school teachers, who are the most critical agents at this level, must be well-equipped for the role. Whether in Edo State or elsewhere, all fake teachers must be fished out and sent packing. Ogun State did it in 2012 when it discovered 800 teachers with phoney certificates. The Commissioner for Education, Segun Odubela, who stated this, added that 223 others did not turn up for screening. Had the weeding not taken place, these cheats would have remained in the system. We are sad that we live in a country where even big scandals do not ring alarm bells anymore. That is one of the signs of a sick society. Political leaders should subsume their partisanship under public interest. Constant evaluation of the critical elements in education is a global best practice. For instance, President Henrique Pena Nieta of Mexico, in February 2013 signed a law that would ensure the assessment of teaching and teachers in schools in a sweeping education reform. We ignore this measure at state and national levels at our own peril.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 05:32:23 +0000
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