Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Ebonyi State chapter has frowned at the way teaching profession has recently, become all comers affairs in Nigeria.
The State Chairman, Comrade Ekechi Francis Okorie disclosed at the weekend during this year’s World Teachers Day celebration.
He described teachers as character molders and nation builders because of their pivotal roles in shaping the future by nurturing and impacting students and driving the educational program process and wondered why charlatans, interlopers, and gatecrashers have taken over the teaching profession.
He underscores the importance of teachers’ voices in the decision-making process in the profession to integrate their perception into educational policies and foster a supportive environment for the development of the teaching profession and that of education.
Ekechi commended Governor Francis Nwifuru for approving the recruitment of 1,000 teachers in the state public secondary schools as replacements for those who exited the profession either by death, retirement, or greener pastures.
He noted that World Teachers Day was targeted at establishing a minimum standard and framework for the welfare of teachers, their social security, and professional relevance in the educational, political, and economic life of the nations in the world.
He described teachers as character molders and nation builders considering their pivotal roles in shaping the future by nurturing and impacting students and driving educational programs’ progress.
“However, to fully harness teachers’ potentials, it is crucial and imperative that their voices are heard and valued in the decision-making process that affects their profession. The importance of valuing teachers’ voices underscores the need to integrate their perception into educational policies and foster a supportive environment for the development of the teaching profession and that of education,” he said.
He called for collective synergy to improve teachers’ service delivery in the discharge of their call in the teaching profession.
In a keynote speech, Dr Chike Onwe, a former Commissioner for Information and State Orientation in Ebonyi, urged teachers to maintain self-efficacy in the teaching profession, describing them as the true heroes of progress in society.
He wondered why teachers are normally taken for granted in society, saying they are known as the backseaters.
Onwe, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication at Ebonyi State University(EBSU), recommended that teachers should be paid like Senators. “We are happy that Ebonyi State Governor promised to strengthen public schools, but if governments are sincere, they should pay teachers more than Senators, because poverty makes one not to be recognized. Salary is what they pay you to shut up.
“But the truth is that teachers should not be treated as civil servants. If the head teachers are given such cars as our governor gave to the resident doctors, the story will change,” the Keynote speaker said.
He urged the teachers to think about how to create self-employment opportunities for themselves, stressing that after God and the priest, the next authority is teachers, and they needed to maintain self-efficacy.
He urged the teachers to shun laziness but rather learn and relearn to be effective in their duties by grasping and delivering the knowledge of the new trends by acquiring hard and soft skills.
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