The sack of over 21,000 teachers who failed a competency test in Kaduna State is still a hot topic in the Nigerian polity with several reactions from various quarters.
Governor Nasir el Rufai
Director General of Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), Salihu Mohammed Lukman has warned Kaduna State chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) against politicizing the planned sack of over 21,780 teachers for incompetency.
This is contained in a letter addressed to Kaduna State APC stakeholders titled ‘State of education in Kaduna: Issues and Politics’.
It said politicizing the issue would only jeopardise the future of the children.
“We can disagree with Mallam Nasir El-Rufai on many issues but on the issue of fixing public education, we need to be cautious.
“Many of us wouldn’t have been where we are if not for the privilege of access to good quality public education.
“We are all products of public education on accounts of which we are globally competitive but this is not the case with our children.
“Our children are mostly products of private education and thus, hardly competitive locally,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has backed the move by Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to sack 21,780 teachers.
On Monday, at a special retreat of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), Buhari admitted it was no longer a secret that the education sector needed a revamp.
The president said the effect of decay in the education sector was glaring, vowing that his administration would change the situation for the better.
“What El-Rufai is trying to do now is exactly what that man told me about 10 years ago.
“It is a very serious situation when teachers cannot pass the examination that they are supposed to teach the children.
“It is a very tragic situation we are in, and this our gathering is one of the most important ones in this administration,” Buhari stated.