The Niger State Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB) says it will soon release appointment letters to 2,600 applicants for teaching jobs in the state.
The Chairman of NSUBEB, Dr Isa Adamu, confirmed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Minna.
According to him, the successful applicants are to teach in Primary and Junior Secondary Schools in all the 25 local government areas of the state.
Mr Adamu said that the Board arrived at that number after a series of tests administered on the prospective employees, to weed out the unsuitable ones.
“When there was an outcry on the recruitment in 2019, Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger set up a committee to look into it. I was a member of that committee.
“Our committee went round; and what we simply did was to look at all the candidates that attended the last interview and we re-invited and re-interviewed them.
“The committee administered a simple reading and writing tests, which some of them that were initially selected failed.
“We had no choice but to replace them after a diligent reading and writing tests, administered to all the candidates.
“Those who were able to defend their results, we have prepared their appointment letters. We replaced a lot of candidates that could not read and write after the second interview,” Mr Adamu said.
He noted that many of the candidates were parading certificates they could not defend.
The NSUBEB chief described such development as unfortunate for the teaching profession not only in Niger but in Nigeria as a whole.
He said the state government was magnanimous enough in the selection process, irrespective of state of origin, especially candidates who studied English, Mathematics and Science- related courses.
Mr Adamu said the board would not rest on its oars, as it would continue to train and retrain its teachers.
