Ongoing Teachers’ Strike Will Not Stop Education Reform – Kaduna Govt

By Hussaina Yakubu, Kaduna

Kaduna State Government on Tuesday said the ongoing strike by the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) in the state would not stop its education reform.

In a statement issued in Kaduna by Samuel Aruwan, Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to Gov. Nasiru El-Rufai, the state government said it would not allow unqualified teachers in its schools.

He said the state government was determined to protect the future of the students as more than two million pupils were enrolled in public primary schools.

Aruwan commended teachers who reported to work in spite of efforts by the NUT to unlawfully prevent them from working.

He said the government had begun collation of reports from education administrators on teachers and reiterated that teachers who absented themselves from work would be sanctioned according to the law.

“Appropriate reminder of the potency of these rules (laws) has been issued in previous government statements.

“Across the state, the illegality of the NUT’s strike action is being compounded by physical attempts to frustrate those teachers who wish to work.

“No law permits any worker to tamper with another’s right to work. The attention of the security agencies has been drawn to this dangerous pattern of conduct,” Aruwan said.

He said the state government had concluded marking of scripts of 43,000 applicants who applied for teaching positions, disclosing that 25,000 qualified teachers would be employed.