Kaduna state teachers during examination. Photo credit; BBC
I love law!
Indeed, I love looking at legal angles to analyse sociopolitical problems. In most cases, the legal position may not respect morality. The ability to use logic is more apt.
However, in a number of instances, legality tends to bow to morality. Hence, we have some doctrines which lawyers throughout the world use in such cases.
One of them is the, ‘Doctrine of unclean hands’. Directly related to this is a well known legal maxim which says that, ‘A person who comes into equity must come with clean hands’. Another related one says, ‘He who comes to equity must do equity’.
It’s against this background that I proceed to look at the issue of the Kaduna state teachers. Apparently they were given some examinations which were normally supposed to be taken by primary four pupils and they flunked the examinations.
Not only did they fail the tests, most of them failed woefully!
Mmm!
How many of us can teach our kids?
Anyway that’s but only a digression. And the digression is meant for those who would have been telling their kids that they were always first in their class at school.
If every parent was always first, shouldn’t we assume that last position is a modern invention?
Back to the issue of the day.
I’m aware that similar things happened in a number of states. Kwara, Ekiti, and Edo come to mind. I suspect that if the test could be a national affair the result will certainly be an interesting one.
If we should go on and do it across the professions, it will certainly be much more of interest.
The basic thing is that people do not read again!
However, how can you ask them to read when even the miserly eighteen thousand naira minimum wage is not being paid in several states of the federation. It is only people who are well fed that can go into the fastly disappearing hobby of reading.
Yet if you don’t read, you are not likely to be aware of what’s going on, even in your own profession. You may be simply out of date.
That apart, is it not a fact that some states use quota system and federal character to fill vacancies into their public service? Is it not a shame that at this stage of modern development, our federal government recognises those two impediments as normal?
It’s so bad that, even in politics, we hardly go for the best. We would rather sacrifice competence on the altar of quota system and national character.
By the way, what sort of education do people get these days? Is it not the education that will make them qualify for some civil service posts? I believe education is to liberate the mind of the learner and prepare the learner for the task of nation building.
How were the teachers employed? Were they interviewed at all? If so, what medium was used in communication? Were they given time to prepare for the test?,
I don’t know what obtains now, in the past, some states will rather employ foreigners on contract. That’s at the detriment of Nigerians who happened to be from other states. Their reason was that they were reserving the jobs for citizens of their states.
By the way, how is the Kaduna state government so sure that the new hands will not turn out to be the same after some years in service?
While I pity our coming generations, I tend to believe that until we start doing things right, we will still be getting involved in this disgraceful incidents.
I have always shouted myself hoarse about the absence of libraries in most of our public schools. Apart from being useful to the pupils, teachers could always use some of the books in the school libraries for reference.
As at last week, I understand a state in the South West is yet to give books to pupils. If pupils do not get books, what will be the fate of teachers?
I think we need to declare a state of emergency in the education sector.
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