Teacher can’t read own certificate? When the late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti sang his popular number, Teacher, Don’t Teach Me Nonsense, many thought it was just a song but the song had become a reality in time. It was sometime in 2011, when Governor Adams Oshiomhole paid an unscheduled visit to a primary school in Edo North senatorial district of the state that he found out the rot which has pervaded the Universal Basic Education in the state. For someone who has embarked on massive construction and rehabilitation of schools in the country of course, he must be concerned with the quality of teachers in these schools. Oshiomhole beckoned on a teacher in the school and asked him what are his workings hours. The teacher could not answer and said I don’t know and later murmured “7am to 4pm Sir”. Oshiomhole and one of the state’s teacher A visibly shocked Oshiomhole now called a pupil and asked, “where is your teacher? The teacher standing beside him replied on behalf of the pupil “na me”. That was when the governor knew that he has a serious problem in the educational sector. A week after the incident, a group of Universal Basic Education teachers who were at the Government House in Benin to protest their non absorption into the state teaching service stormed the state government House, unknown to them the governor was waiting for such an opportunity to bare his mind on the rot in the system. While addressing the UBE teachers he asserted that employment into the state teaching service will no longer be automatic, adding that the applicant must show competence beyond paper qualification. He said to them, “the governor does not have a guaranteed job, therefore nobody can have one. You must go through proper interview. The system must be convinced that you have what it takes to be a good teacher”. He stressed that the system must go through progressive change to ensure that education is restored to its pride of place, stressing there are teachers who cannot speak English. “Whatever they were doing before, we have to review it in the light of current experience. We have teachers who cannot speak English. I asked a teacher last week what the working hours were. He did not know, he said 7am to 4pm. And I asked a pupil, where is your teacher? The teacher said, ‘na me’. The governor disclosed that government was going to employ teachers to fill the existing vacancies, but it must be based on merit and not geographical area.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 07:53:11 +0000
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