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.
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