No going back on test for teachers –Ekiti

Ekiti State Commissioner for Education, Dr. Eniola Ajayi, has said the state government will go ahead with the Teachers Development Needs Assessment test on Monday (today), despite threat by the teachers to embark on strike.

Ajayi, who spoke in Lagos on Saturday, said the test had become necessary because of the need to boost the standards of the teachers.

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“The test will come up on Monday as planned. It is not meant to sack any teacher. It is just aimed at helping the state government to know what the teachers know. After the test, we will begin another round of specialised training based on the need noticeable in our teachers,” she said.

The commissioner debunked the rumours that the exercise was aimed at sacking some of the teachers.

She said, “When they came up with that agitation, we told them that we were ready to put it on paper in form of an agreement that no teacher will be sacked as a result of the exercise. The idea is to make them better teachers who are in tune with global practice in the profession.

“For instance, if we discover that a teacher is deficient in communication or English Language skill, what we will do is just to organise a four-week training along that line.”

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Yinka Oyebode, said the assessment test would hold in 39 designated centres across the 16 local government areas in the state.

Also, the state’s council of Obas regretted the negative attitude of the teachers to the test.

Chairman of the council, Owa Ooye of Oke-Imesi, Oba Gbadebo Adedeji, said the traditional leaders were in support of the exam.

But the Principal Assistant Secretary-General of the Nigeria Union of Teachers in the state, Wale Oyeniyi, said on Saturday the teachers would not take the test, insisting that they would begin an indefinite strike on Monday (today).

Oyeniyi said, “Bring promotion examination and we will do it. But this TDNA is beyond our understanding and we do not know why government is veiling its real intention. If they want to build our capacity, they should train us or send us to workshops and seminars. but we have made known our position that we are not going to write the TDNA.”