The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in Ondo State has hailed the state governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, for approving harmonised retirement age for teachers in primary and secondary schools across the state from 60 to 65 or 40 years of pensionable service.
The chairman of the Teachers’ union in the state, Comrade Victor Amoko, while commending Akeredolu, during a press conference in Akure, said the development would go a long way to motivate teachers to put in their best.
Amoko said apart from boosting the morale of the teachers, it would also help in reducing brain-drain in the education sector and enhance the quality and development of education in the state.
He, however, said the new retirement age will afford teachers in the state the opportunity of reaching the peak of their career.
He also commended Akeredolu over the employment of new teachers in the state’s primary and secondary schools, noting that the last employment for teachers was done in 2006.
He said despite the fact that some teachers had retired; died and quit their jobs; there was no employment exercise to replace them.
“We don’t need anything from the government other than to thank our amiable governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu for this approval.
“Our promotion is being handled as at when due. The N30,000 minimum wage has been effected. The inter cadre of moving teachers up is being implemented.
“Training and retraining of teachers is ongoing. Though we have a shortage of 15,000 teachers currently, we cannot blame this government for it; we know it is all part of the fallout of COVID-19 pandemic,” Amoko said.
According to him, the Akeredolu-led administration has been paying salaries and giving promotion to teachers promptly among other incentives.
On the demand for Nigerian teachers in the United Kingdom, Comrade Amoko said the development spoke of the quality of teachers being produced in Nigerian schools.
He noted that Nigerian teachers are good, but with the extension of retirement age to 65 in Nigeria and 67 in the UK, many teachers will be spurred to choose Nigeria over any other nation.
Speaking on the redeployment of teachers to the rural areas of the state, he said that “all those who were allocated to teach in the rural areas came back to Akure, the state capital through the influence of the politicians.
“The politicians have slots and they want the benefactors to work very close to the local government areas, not in the rural areas. This issue must be addressed if the education sector in Ondo State must be strengthened.”
He appealed to politicians to take their hands off the redeployment exercise of new teachers in the state so as to enable education to develop in the rural areas, noting that “the villages need more attention than the cities where we already have more than enough hands.“
It will be recalled that Governor Akeredolu recently approved a new retirement age of 65years or 40 years of pensionable service to teachers in primary and secondary schools in the state, as demanded by the organised labour in the state.
