Reps honour best principal, teacher

From Tony Akowe

As part of this year’s World Teachers’ Day, the House of Representatives yesterday honoured Nigeria’s best principal and teacher.

The award-winning duo are Pius Idu and Agnes Elusakin, who said she had been a teacher for 27 years.

The House asked the Federal Government to improve on the welfare and support schemes for teachers, especially in their training, using the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) approach in addressing education policy and curriculum choices in schools.

The lawmakers noted that the approach would improve competitiveness in science and technology development.

They also asked the Federal Government to employ more teachers to address inadequate staffing and low productivity within the Education sector.

According to them, there is urgent need to increase budgetary allocation to the Education sector in the 2020 Appropriation Bill to equip teachers with the requisite training and adequate facilities in the schools.

The decision of the House followed a motion by Babajimi Benson (APC, Lagos) on the commemoration of World Teachers’ Day (WTD).

Presenting the motion, he said the House “notes that this year’s World Teachers’ Day (WTD) or International Teachers’ Day was celebrated on October 5, 2019, with the theme: Young Teachers: The Future of the Profession, and was aimed at proffering ideas to attract and keep young persons in the profession”.

Benson also said the House was “aware that the celebration of teachers followed the United Nations (UN) Declaration in 1994 for the recognition of the World Teachers Day (WTD) or International Teachers Day to celebrate teachers around the world for their efforts towards shaping the minds of several children and the society at large, even though they remain unsung heroes and heroines whose contributions to the society are underappreciated”.

Speaker Femi Gbajabimilla lauded the dedication to duties that led to the choice of the duo by the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT).

In adopting the motion, the House unanimously urged the Federal Government to support the teaching profession, employ more teachers and increase the budgetary appropriations to education.