LAGOS – The Lagos State Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) said on Tuesday that the teachers’ competency framework was a consensus among stakeholders in the state to enhance professionalism.
The Lagos state government had on March 26, organised a sensitisation seminar for stakeholders in the state on the intended competency test.
Mr Segun Raheem, the state Chairman of the NUT, said that the competency test would replace the promotion system where teachers were subjected to written examinations, in line with civil service rules.
“It is not an examination as being practised in Edo and Ekiti States, but a new process toward promotion,“ he said.
“Teachers in the past were subjected to written examinations on civil service rules, financial regulations, current affairs, oral interview and scores of performance evaluations.
“Instead of these, stakeholders agreed to hinge teachers’ promotion on the spot evaluation, using regular attendance and punctuality as the yardstick.
“It will also use teaching, the classroom environment and pupils performance in various subjects.
“It is similar to what obtains in the universities, the more journals you publish, the faster your promotion, so for teachers, the more efficient you are, the faster the promotion.
“It means that if two teachers are employed at the same time, their promotion may not be at the same pace,’’ he said.
According to Raheem, government and the union leaders will sensitise teachers on the new innovation.
However, Alhaji Babs Animashaun, founder, National Parents/Teachers Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN), said that the outcome of the new system would justify its purpose.
“If the test is to determine the level of efficiency of the teachers, it is okay, but if it is to weed out teachers, it is unfair.
“There is nothing wrong with a test to see how versatile they are on their jobs but I am not in support of an indirect retrenchment,” he said.
Animashaun said that the new idea was welcome if the test would improve the quality of teaching and assessment to update their knowledge in modern teaching techniques.
“Teachers are meant to be trained and re-trained on their jobs,” he added.
