The Kaduna State chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) says the 21,780 primary school teachers sacked by Governor Nasir el-Rufai should reapply.
State NUT Chairman, Audu Amba, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Friday that the affected teachers would “reapply, sit for another examination and if passed, they will be reinstated to their previous positions.”
NAN reports that the teachers were sacked for allegedly failing a competency test held in June 2017.
Amba said Governor El-Rufai had directed the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to open a window for the sacked teachers in its continuous recruitment programme.
According to him, it is a new window of opportunity for the affected teachers to be reinstated.
His words: “We, therefore, consider this as an achievement to our struggle, and collectively agreed to call off the strike.
“We are not against any examination to determine the quality and competency of teachers; our problem is the modalities and the processes that the test in question was conducted.
“What is agreed is that when writing the examination, the affected teachers would be required to indicate their scores in the controversial competency test of June 2017.
“Therefore, if our teachers would be given another opportunity to sit for another examination and be reinstated, I feel it’s something we could work on to ensure that larger percentage of the affected teachers got their jobs back.”
He said that the affected teachers have been directed to await the announcement by SUBEB on a date for another recruitment exercise for them to reapply.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Ja’afaru Sani, said that 10,000 of the affected sacked teachers had re-applied.
He said that although the sack order remained, the government would consider those that reapplied if they pass the tests to be conducted for them later.
On whether the teachers would be reinstated to their previous positions, the commissioner said the Head of Service would determine that based on civil service rules.
