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ENUGU GOVT TO RECRUIT 10,400 TEACHERS FOR ITS SMART SCHOOL PROGRAMME
Enugu State Government says it is going to recruit 10,400 Smart teachers to teach in the 260 Smart Green schools being established by Governor Peter Mbah administration..
Prrof. Mbah said that a total of 26,330 applications were received, and the assessment started on Wednesday, August 21. He added that the assessment was Phase One, through which 6,000 teachers will be recruited. According to him, Phase Two of the assessment will be held in January 2025. He explained that each Smart Green school has 40 teachers and when the figure is multiplied by 260 Smart schools that will be established in 260 political wards in the state, the number of teachers to be recruited will be 10,400.
On the process of selection, he said it was fair and just. He disclosed that the recruitment was broadly advertised and was made opened for everybody who was qualified to apply. All existing teachers were mandated to apply. He added that applications were received from every ward across the 17 Local Government Areas. All applicants have been scheduled to write the examination to ensure that everyone is given a fair chance.
“For four days, we have been conducting Computer Based Assessment of candidates who have applied to become Smart teachers in the Enugu Smart Green Schools. We received applications from 26,330 candidates and we had to come up with a bias-free process of evaluating their Subject Area Competence and Basic Digital Literacy Proficiency.”
“To be able to do that, we came up with the Computer Based Test. The assessment is running simultaneously at Enugu State College of Education (Technical) and the Institute of Management and Technology,” he said.
The Commissioner disclosed that Candidates were evaluated in four areas:In the subject areas that they are going to teach, In English Language and General Mathematics and in Basic Digital Literacy.
On why English Language, General Mathematics ,and Basic Digital Literacy were included in the assessment, Professor Mbah said: “it was very important for us to ensure that the teachers teaching our children have Basic Numeracy and Literacy Proficiency. So, that is why we have insisted on general examination in Mathematics and English Language. Each candidate has 25 questions on their Subject Area of expertise, 10 questions on Mathematics, 10 questions on English Language, and 5 questions on Basic Digital Literacy.
The importance of digital literacy cannot be overemphasized. If you are going to teach in the Enugu Smart Green school, you will use computers and digital smart boards to teach. You will make use of the digitalized hybrid library. You will use our digitalized Learning Management System for attendance, assessment, lesson plan development, and Experiential teaching design. The Enugu Smart Green School is a high-tech teaching ecosystem. So, we want to make sure that our teachers have basic digital knowledge.
The Commissioner described the assessment as “very free, fair, and standardized.” Professor Mbah disclosed that successful applicants would undergo a three-month intensive training after which ENSUBEB will post them to Smart Green schools.
On the criteria of posting, he said only persons which ministry of education has certified to be smart teachers will be posted to the Smart schools.
“All persons who succeed through the training will be registered in the Teachers’ Registry and it is from that Teachers’ Registry that teachers will now be posted to Smart schools”.
Professor Mbah also stated that the Second Phase of the assessment will be conducted in January 2025. He explained that the Ministry of Education is targeting the recruitment of at least 12,000 teachers. “We have 40 teachers and 260 Smart schools. To guarantee that we produce 10,400 Smart Teachers, however, we need to aim to train at least 12,000, because some may not make it. What we have here is a rigorous process that is competency based. We are identifying qualified teachers. We are showing that teaching is a profession, in much the same way that medicine or engineering is a profession,” he said.
Meanwhile, candidates who sat for the Enugu Smart Green Schools teachers’ recruitment assessment which was Computer Based and free, have hailed the State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah and the Commissioner for Education, Professor Ndubueze Mbah for organizing “a free, fair and just” assessment , saying the Computer Based Test was the best.
Some of the candidates who spoke with newsmen after writing their examinations on Saturday at the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) Campus 3 and Enugu State College of Education (Technical) ESCET, Enugu, respectively, said they did not pay for the examinations. They added that the Computer Based assessment did not give room for impersonation and examination malpractices.
At the ESCET Information Technology Center, a Candidate, Onah Anne Nwakaego, ( a teacher in a public school )said she enjoyed writing the examinations.
” I enjoyed writing the examinations. The Organizers tried very well. Everything went smoothly, “she said.
Speaking on the organization of the assessment, Onah said : “We did not have any problem with the Computers. There were no network issues. Adequate security was provided. The Examiners conducted the examinations well. The hall was quiet. The environment was conducive. We had no problem here”, she said.
On the use of Computer for the assessment, she said, “using Computer is better than writing on paper. There were no issues of examination malpractices. I am happy I wrote the examinations.”
Also speaking with Newsmen, one of the Examiners, Solomon Ogutayo ,said the use of Computer was the right thing to do because it prevented Candidates from cheating and impersonating . He added that the examination was time- bound , so, it reduced the level of impersonation and cheating.
On the challenges they had , Ogutayo said a lot of candidates could not use computer and that was a major issue.. “We had some old people that did their exams successfully without stressing us,” he said .
He suggested that next time an examination like that would be conducted, the candidates should be informed at the point of registration that they will use computer for the examinations so that candidates who are not computer literate should go and learn how to operate computer.
At IMT Campus 3 center, the story was the same. Candidates commended the state Government for giving them the opportunity to apply and sat for the examinations free, without paying any money.
A candidate, Orji Uche ( a teacher in a private school)said the assessment was good. He however complained that in Mathematics they were instructed not to use calculator, ” but the kind of Mathematics set demands that you use a calculator”, he said.
On the organization of the assessment, Orji said, “There was no challenge at all. It was well organized. From the questions I attempted I felt that at the end of the day I might scale through”.
Another candidate, Ugwu ChekwubeChukwu ( a teacher in a Private School) said the examination was good, though some questions were hard, some were cheap.
It went well. I did not have any network problem. I hope I will pass the examinations, ” she said.
