National President of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Audu Titus Amba, has condemned some state governments which are owing primary school teachers running into several months in spite of the current harsh economic situation in the country.
He, however, called on the Federal Government to through constitutional amendment, make the first 9-year of basic education a core responsibility of the state governments to address the challenge of non-payment of salaries of teachers by the local government councils.
Amba, spoke at 1st Quadrennial delegates conference of the Federal Wing of NUT holding at the Teachers House, Lugbe, Abuja.
“I urge the Honourable Minister of Education to lend his Executive voice through the Federal Executive Council, by urging them to cause an Amendment in the 1999 Constitution, whereby the first 9years of Basic Education should be made a core responsibility of the State Governments instead of the Local Government Councils.
“It is only when the funding of Basic Education is made a core Constitutional responsibility of State Governments that the toxic phenomenon of nonpayment of primary school teachers salaries will be a thing of the past across the states of the Federation,” he said.
He said the theme of the conference, “Teacher Welfare: The Catalyst for Educational Change in Nigeria,” encapsulates the essence and significance of the teacher as the fulcrum, upon which the mill of education process and industry revolves.
While lamenting the backlogs of salaries and promotion arrears owed both Federal and state teachers, the NUT President insisted that welfare of teachers must be given a top priority in the policies and programmes of all the tiers of government in the country, if the vision for the future of education in Nigeria would be meaningfully realised.
He underscored the vital role that teachers play as agents of change and the cornerstone of educational development in any progressive clime.
Chairman of NUT, Federal Wing, Comrade Alex Emeka Okonta, on his part, lamented that teachers of Federal Government Colleges (Unity Schools), have been owed accumulated arrears ranging from promotion, 28 days in lieu of hotel accommodation, some months salary arrears of both elongated officers and newly recruited teachers.
He called on the Federal Government to ensure payment of these arrears without delay.
Okonta, also demanded for establishment of the Federal Teaching Service Commission, saying a functional teaching service commission would remove the bottleneck affecting the promotion and restore the lost glory of federal schools in Nigeria.
He further called for the implementation of the new Teachers Salary Scale (TSS), approved in 2020 by the last administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, noting that the Federal Government had announced the new salary teachers structure and other packages to boost the morale of teachers.
He said a lot of federal teachers have stagnated for several years because of “no vacancy”.
He demanded that teachers should get their promotion as and when due given the nature of the job they do.
Okonta also spoke on the policy of disarticulation of schools, which he noted was the brainchild of federal Ministry of Education, wondering however that while the states have carried out this policy, federal schools are still operating the old system.
He said this non-implementation of the policy has been affecting the standard and welfare of teachers.
