1000 NCE women seek Bauchi Governor’s intervention for being substituted in teachers’ recruitment
Story from Ahmad SAKA, Bauchi
About 1000 women teachers sponsored by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) to study for the National Certificate of Education (NCE) for three years under an agreement that they would get automatic employment to teach in their communities have cried out for fairness to the Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed and the Ministry of Education as they claimed to have been sidelined in the recruitment.
The women who came to the secretariat of the correspondence chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Bauchi, appealed to Governor Mohammed and all stakeholders in education to intervene and look into their case in the interest of justice and fairness, because of the alleged blackmail and injustice done to them by the Commissioner of Education, Dr Aliyu Usman Tilde.
Representatives of the women, Maryam Yusuf Shall, Maryam Ahmad Jauro and Saraya Waziri, who spoke to reporters in Bauchi Separately, alleged that they completed the three years NCE course at the Aminu Saleh College of Education Azare and going against the agreement, the Ministry of Education refused to employ them, instead, the commissioner introduced examinations and replaced the names of the UNICEF beneficiaries with the names of his candidates who were not part of the Programme.
The women alleged that when the Commissioner introduced the examinations, he removed the names of about 65 per cent of the people sponsored by the UNICEF who were supposed to sit for the exams and replaced them with some people on the day of the exams.
They said after the first exam was cancelled, another one was successfully written of which the result took 16 months before it was released and some names were not included.
The women said they complained to the commissioner for education who told them that anyone who didn’t see her name automatically failed the exams, but after two days of their complaint, he pasted a new list at the Ministry which was a different list from the first one, with different scores.
The speakers of the embattle teachers appealed to the Governor and his wife, Hajiya Aishatu Lami Bala, to intervene in the matter and ensure justice and fairness in their situation.
However, the Bauchi State Commissioner for Education, Dr Aliyu Tilde, said that 700 out of the 1,000 women that were trained in partnership with UNICEF failed in Mathematics, English and essays meant for primary six pupils.
Tilde, while reacting to their complaints said the government would put the future of millions of learners in danger should the women be employed.
He said, “Some of the women among the 1000 Female Teachers’ Training Scheme who failed the test are protesting why they were not employed as promised when the programme was introduced. UNICEF trained 50, while Bauchi trained 950.
“Government was ready to employ all of them only if they passed the recruitment test. We tested them on primary six Mathematics, English and Essay and because of their massive failure; we employed those who scored at least 50 per cent in Mathematics or English and grade C in English.”
The Commissioner said the government had kept its side of the bargain but they didn’t study well enough to pass their test.
“They are free to say anything on social media or go to court. We are protecting the rights of the helpless children, whose lives would be destroyed if we send them to the classroom. We can’t undermine the future of thousands of children that will become victims,” he noted.
He said the leader of the protesters scored 9/40 in English and 10/40 in Mathematics.
“No amount of blackmail on social media will make the government employ her,” he said.
