Teachers’ recruitment exercise in Enugu records 25% pass

Not more than 25 percent of the 17,620 candidates assessed by the Enugu State ministry for education passed the Computer-Based Test (CBT) for recruitment of teachers into the state’s Smart Green Schools.

According to the results announced by the Enugu State ministry for education, out of 17,620 that participated in the recruitment test, only 4,253 (about 25 percent) passed.

This was made known in a release signed by Ndubueze Mbah, the commissioner for education in Enugu State, who commended the exercise for being a transparent one.

Read also: NCCE, GetBundi sign MoU to empower future teachers with digital skills

“Enugu State conducted CBT assessment for their teachers’ recruitment. This is commendable. It was a transparent process. 17,620 teachers participated in the exercise.”

The participants were tested on 14 core subjects such as English Language, Mathematics, ICT/ Computer Science, Basic Tech, Basic Sciences, History, Business Studies, French Language, and Igbo Language.

Others are Pre-Vocational /Agric Science/Home Economics, National Values/Social Studies/ Security Education/Civic Education, Cultural and Creative Arts, Religious Studies, and Physical and Health Education.

The cut off marks for the subjects varies according to the assigned benchmark. English Language had 58 as cut off mark, Mathematics cut off is 50, ICT has 66, Basic Tech with 50, and Basic Science has 54.

History cut off mark is 50, Business Studies has 68 as cut off, French Language has 50 as cut off, Igbo Language has 58, Pre-Vocational Studies has 56 cut off mark.

National Values has 74 as the cut off mark, Cultural and Creative Arts has 50 as cut off mark as well as Religious Studies and Physical and Health Education respectively.

Out of the 2,163 participant in the English Language test, only 536 passed, in Mathematics, out of the 887 candidates, only 330 passed, ICT/Computer Science had 394 pass out of 1,038, Basic Tech recorded 155 pass out of 270 candidates, while Igbo Language had 311pass out of 1,093.
Some stakeholders blamed the poor performance of the candidates on poor quality teachers and the fact that many of these participants are not compliant.

Read also: Seplat energy trains 381 teachers, CIEs in Edo, Delta

“If you look closely, you will see how the teachers struggled to reach various cut-off marks. The quality of teachers in our schools is really a big concern,” a stakeholder said.
Another stakeholder said, “I agree with you that we lack quality teachers. Don’t be surprised that those who passed the CBT examinations are not better than those who didn’t. They may be more computer trained than others. So, teaching primary school students goes beyond the use of computers but we must start somewhere.

“I’m thinking about that teacher in a rural area who have possibly taught for 18 years but never used a computer? Would this teacher be put out of job by the use of CBT assessment,” he asked.