Hundreds of parents held a protest on Friday, calling on the Kaduna State government not to bring back the unqualified teachers who failed the primary four examinations.
They vowed to withdraw their children if the sacked teachers return back to classrooms. The protesters who marched from Murtala Square to Sir Kashim Ibrahim House declared their support for Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s ongoing educational reforms.
One of the parents, Ibrahim Aliyu, who addressed government officials, warned Governor El-Rufai to resist pressure from labour leaders who may want to jeopardize the future of over two million Kaduna pupils for union dues. According to him: “We are here as parents to register our full support for Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai’s ongoing educational reforms.
No wonder many of our children who are in tertiary institutions cannot speak or write for us parents at home, we didn’t know until now we discovered that Kaduna public schools have unqualified teachers who impacted nothing but ignorance to our children for many years. We thank God for Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s bold steps to reposition education in the state. We are telling the governor that if he returns the unqualified teachers to classrooms, we will withdraw our children in public schools because we can’t kill their future.
Don’t bow to labour pressure. What labour is after is the collection of union dues without minding their capacity to teach. As parents, we are calling on the people of Kaduna State to support the governor’s educational reforms for the interest of the state. Our governor cannot just sack teachers like that, those who failed the primary four examinations must not come back as the process for the recruitment of qualified teachers already commenced” Receiving the protesters on behalf of Governor Nasir El-Rufai, State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Jafaru Sani, called on the people of Kaduna to stick with the truth as government is repositioning the educational system for the good of all.
Sani, who said the government will not return the unqualified teachers to classrooms, warned qualified teachers to sign attendance registers to avoid civil service disciplinary action. Recall that, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, had protested in Kaduna on Thursday against the sacking of unqualified teachers who failed primary four examinations by Kaduna State government.
