Governor Bago of Niger State (file photo)
‘Yohanna said that it was unfair for jobless CRK teachers to remain unemployed when public schools have vacancies for them’
By Mohammed Usman
Niger State chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has appealed to the Governor Mohammed Umar Bago-led administration to recruit Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK) teachers for public schools in the state.
It said that the measure would not only be a balance for the other major religion [Islam], but a means of instilling the right morals in pupils for better Nigeria.
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The group’s Chairman, Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna,who made the appeal at the 45th anniversary of the National Conference of the National Association of Christian Religious Educators of Nigeria (NACREN) in Minna, the state capital, is also the Catholic Bishop of Kontagora Diocese.
“Teaching CRK as a subject in public schools can help address huge percentage of the social vices among teeming youths in the state”, he stated.
In a paper titled, ‘‘Who is Afraid of CRK in public schools?’’ the CAN chairman said that it was wrong for Muslims to have more than enough teachers in public schools while denying Christians the same opportunity.
The cleric argued that governments needed to hear and act to the several calls on the need to bridge the gap by reinstalling the teaching of CRK in public schools as the IRK by engaging qualified teachers to teach in the schools for equity, justice and fairness to the entire citizenry.
Expressing regrets that the issue had been lingering since 2003, Yohanna said that it was unfair for jobless CRK teachers to remain unemployed when public schools have vacancies for them.
The CAN chairman recalled that in 2004 when there were about 152 public schools, there were only 120 CRK teachers in the state, adding, “in 2004 when Niger hosted the National Conference of CRK Teachers, the statistics given to us by government was 220 CRK teachers including the non-qualified teachers for over 450 schools”.
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