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Tag: teachers’ salary

  • Why councils shouldn’t pay teachers‘ salary, by Labour

    Why councils shouldn’t pay teachers‘ salary, by Labour

    Labour unions across the country have given their  support to local government autonomy.

    They, however, called for the payment of teachers’salary by state governments.

    The unions, led by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), called for a comprehensive and immediate amendment of Clauses 7, 8, 162 and any other clause in the 1999 Constitution that compromises the autonomy of local governments.

    They made their position known   at the Intercontinental Hotel in Lagos, venue of the review of the 1999 Constitution by the National Assembly joint constitutional review committee.

    They said leaving teachers’ salaries and allowances under the third tier of government would set the education system back and further expand the gap between the rich and the poor, thereby setting the nation on a path of self-destruction.

    NUT National President Comrade Michael Alogba said they wanted the lawmakers that primary school education should be a separate entity outside the local government.

    Alogba said they wanted a return of the National Primary Education Council (NPEC),which took care of teachers.

    “But the fact that experience is a great teacher and  when primary education was put under local governments, it was suffering galore and we do not want a continuation of that. We have had a lot of argument on it.

    “But today is not for preaching ,just to let them know that they are there at the instance of the people and if democracy is a government of the  people, they must hearken to us. No to primary education under the local government,” he said.

    NULGE National President Comrade Ibrahim Khaleel said they were at the constitutional reform to canvass the payment of teachers’ salaries, and funding of primary education should be on the front burner of the three levels of government. It be on first line charge of the Federation Account. By so doing, the three tiers of government will be forced to participate in funding primary education because of its sensitivity, he said.

    He said they believed that the link between the down-trodden masses and the rich was getting weaker daily.

    Khaleel said: “We are here at this constitutional reform that would make the third tier of the government more functional, more visible and the connectivity between the rural people and the governance and democracy itself to be strengthened.

    “We go for autonomy, that is why we are here and when you are talking about visibility of government, the only  thing that will make it visible is when finances, administration, is free from unnecessary encroachment and of course in the salaries of teachers, it was part of our document, even the memorandum we sent to the National Assembly.

    “So, the NUT is our sister union and there is no ambiguity between their demand and our own. We asking for better Nigeria that would be for everybody, the Nigeria that would be inclusive, Nigeria for Nigerians and not a group of people”.

    Lagos NUT Chairman Comrade Adesegun Raheem said it was wrong for it to be mooted for local governments to pay teachers .

    He said they decided to sensitise Nigerians as it had happened before when local government paid teachers and it was hell for teachers.

    “We had witnessed it in Lagos in 1991,1992, 1993 and those were the dark days of primary education in Lagos State.

    “That was when public primary education lost value.Public do not even have confidence in it because for about,10,11,12 months, teachers were unable to pay house rents, among others.”

    Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan who later addressed the protesters said the message of the unions will be passed to the committee and as a former teacher who has taught in all levels, he understands their plight.

  • Ahmed releases N1b for teachers’ salary

    Ahmed releases N1b for teachers’ salary

    The Kwara State government has released N1.2 billion for the payment of teachers’ July salary.

    This is part of efforts to resolve the lingering salary crisis at the basic education level.

    The amount is higher than the N706,131,293.13 released in June.

    Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed said this during an interaction with local government chairmen, treasurers, labour leaders and top government officials on Monday.

    Governor Ahmed said the state augmented the July 2016 federal allocation to councils with N160 million to ensure that teachers and other council workers get their full salaries.

    He, however, hinged the intervention on the completion of the workers’ verification, stressing that only workers that have been cleared would be paid.

  • Kwara govt to end teachers’ salary crises

    Kwara govt to end teachers’ salary crises

    Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has said his administration is committed to finding a lasting solution to the lingering salary crises at its basic education level.

    Ahmed, who spoke during a meeting with education stakeholders, was worried at the plight of primary and junior secondary teachers as well as other workers who are being owed salaries, a situation he linked to the drop in federal allocation.

    He said he is working with stakeholders to come up with a robust plan that will bring succor to the affected workers.

    The governor said though the councils were responsible for salaries and pensions at the local government level, the state remained committed to ensuring the welfare of all categories of workers.

    Governor Ahmed emphasized that the Federal Government’s fresh bailout package for states “is a budget support scheme, which is to enable states implement their budget in view of the current economic realities”. He added that the package was not extended to local councils because the Federal Government could not afford it.

    Present at the meeting were the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Alhaji Isiaka Gold; Chief of Staff Abdulwahab Babatunde; Head of Service Hajia Zainab Umar and Commissioner for Education Alhaji Musa Yeketi.

    Others are Permanent Secretary, State Universal Basic Education (SUBEB) Dr. Oladimeji Dasuki; Chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Comrade Musa Abubakar and representatives of the All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPS).

  • NUT gives January 2013 deadline for new teachers’ salary

    NUT gives January 2013 deadline for new teachers’ salary

    The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) on Wednesday set January 2013 as deadline for states that have not implemented the new Teachers’ Salary Structure (TSS) to begin payment or face industrial disputes.

    The National President of the Union, Mr Michael Alogba-Olukoya, disclosed this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    The governors’ forum had in 2009 approved 27.5 per cent increase in salary of teachers in public schools, in line with the new Teachers Salary Scale (TSS).

    Alogba-Olukoya lamented that 18 states were yet to commence implementation of the TSS.

    He said that teachers’ welfare must always be held in high esteem, describing it as an important factor needed for the reform in the education sector.

    According to the NUT president, the union has displayed enough patience and understanding by suspending its recent strike over the delay in the implementation.

    Alogba-Olukoya observed that the affected governments were not showing concern to reciprocate the position of the teachers.

    “We only suspended the strike, based on the intervention of the Minister of Education, who promised to prevail on all the defaulting state governments over the issue.

    “However, we have started getting some commitments from some of the affected state governments who have promised to capture and commence the implementation of the TSS in their 2013 budgets.

    “We, therefore, want to appeal to these state governments to be honourable enough to honour this agreement which we went into in 2009,” he said.

    Alogba–Olukoya noted that teachers were not interested in strike because their position in national development was critical and should be treated with respect.

    He warned that the union would not be held responsible for actions taken over non-implementation of the TSS by January 2013.

    On the forth coming World Teachers Day, scheduled for Oct. 5, Alogba–Olukoya said that series of activities have been lined up for the celebration.

    “We have set aside a lot of activities to mark our day and celebrate ourselves in this part of the country because, truly we deserve to be celebrated.

    “We shall also be using that day to officially co-opt teachers of all the 104 Unity Colleges across the country into our fold.

    “You know that before now they had been seeing themselves as civil servants, even though they are all professional teachers,” he said.

    Alogba-Olukoya said that the union was hopeful that the Federal Government would use the celebration to come out with policies that would create the enabling environment for teachers to perform optimally. (NAN)