The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Kaduna State chapter, has upheld the position of the National Executive Council of the union, urging the Ministry of Education and the Federal Government to retrace their steps on excluding candidates seeking admission into the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) programme from sitting for the examination conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), in the interest of national development.
The National Executive Council of the union has described as counterproductive the decision of the Federal Ministry of Education to exclude candidates seeking admission into the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) programme from sitting for the examination conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Ibrahim Dalhatu and Adamu Ayuba Kaltungo, chairman and secretary of the union, in a joint statement, explained that the position of the union stems from the fact that exempting candidates seeking admission into Colleges of Education from writing the JAMB examination would adversely affect the quality of teacher education and consequently impact the standard of education in Nigeria.
The NUT Kaduna State wing re-emphasized that teaching is a “highly intellectual and strategic profession,” and that the process of training teachers must remain vigorous and highly competitive.
According to the statement, “Excluding candidates from taking the examination will imply that the profession is for academically weak candidates and ‘all comers’.”
It observed that the teaching profession is already suffering from low esteem, and that exempting candidates would further reinforce the erroneous belief that teaching is a “last resort” profession, adding that it contradicts global best practices, as countries with high-performing education systems recruit their teachers from among the best and brightest students.
It would further confirm the belief that teaching is an “all-comers” job rather than a profession for those genuinely passionate about teaching, stressing that it would weaken the ongoing efforts and reforms aimed at making teaching a respected profession by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).
The union posited that, rather than removing Colleges of Education candidates from JAMB requirements, the Federal Government should make concerted efforts to improve teachers’ welfare packages and remuneration to attract brilliant candidates to the profession.
It added that the Federal Government should consider providing scholarships, bursaries, and special incentives for students studying education courses, while also providing special admission incentives without compromising standards.
The union also called for the full implementation of the bill signed into law by the Muhammadu Buhari administration on April 9, 2022, stating that it would address the issue the Federal Government intends to tackle through exempting candidates seeking admission into Colleges of Education from writing the JAMB examination.