The National President of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Mr. Michael Olukoya, has called for the scrapping of substandard schools in the country.
Olukoya, who spoke to our correspondent on Thursday, also blamed the inadequacies in the sector on politics.
He said, “I think some of these things border on politics and sentiments. The moment we begin to shift goal posts as far as matters of standards and merits are concerned, there will be problems.
“Across the country, there is an increasing number of private primary and secondary schools, operating in bedroom apartments, with other residents occupying flats in the same building. Some are located in boys’ quarters, without proper ventilation, and without play ground. Some of them also employ school certificate holders as teachers.
“The state governments should step up the activities of their education inspectorate units and ensure that all the schools that fall within that category be scrapped.”
Olukoya also expressed his angst at what he called piecemeal or non-existent of training programmes for teachers from state governments, and this, according to him, does not augur well for the development of the nation.
He noted that for teachers in the country to attain international standard, there should be regular holiday workshop and training programmes.
He added, “Insufficient training programmes for teachers portend danger for the country. For our teachers to meet global standard, state governments should introduce holiday workshops and re-training programmes for teachers.”
To guard against the recruitment of quacks as teachers, Olukoya, who made reference to the recent dismal display of ignorance by a mediocre teacher in Edo State, canvassed a more thorough employment procedure for teachers.
He stated, “I don’t believe that woman is one of us. And if she’s one, then maybe she got in to the teaching profession through the backdoors.”
