The Nation Newspaper

Tag: teachers

  • Teachers learn about special needs

    To give public primary school teachers a better understanding of children with special needs, the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) engaged Founiks Educational Services to train 100 teachers for three days last week at the SUBEB Hall in Maryland.

    Four facilitators treating various topics taught the teachers how learning disabilities come about so they can show empathy to children with learning difficulties in their classrooms, teach and manage them appropriately to ensure they get functional education.

    Underscoring the importance of the training, Mr Dare Adelusi, the Chief Executive Officer of Founiks Educational Services said teachers managing children with special needs need to be acquainted with why and how such needs develop so they are not hostile towards them.

    Adelusi in his lecture on “Overview of human development and growth”, showed how genetic factors and lack of care at pregnancy, infancy, childhood and later stages can cause them to develop intellectual challenges.

    “Why do we have children with special needs? Processes of development and growth create these special children. From day one of pregnancy, development starts. A lot can go wrong that will make a child develop learning disabilities,” he said.

    To help this category of children, Dr Akintayo, in his lecture on psychology of learning told the teachers to motivate them.

    “Learning is usually most efficient and rapid when the learner is motivated and attentive. Behavioral studies with both animals and people have shown that one effective way to maintain the learners’ motivation is to deliver strong and immediate rein forcers for correct responses,” he said.

    Speaking on Behavioural modification of children with special needs; Ajirotutu said appropriate interventions need to be designed for such children to harness their potential.

    “Children with special needs are endowed with abilities, but the obvious disability can impair their adaptive functioning if appropriate interventions are not put in place,” he said.

    Praising SUBEB for the training, Adedoyin Abudu, who teaches at Wesley School II for the Hearing Impaired, said it exposes them to practices in the care and education of challenged children.

    “This training correlates with what we need in our field so we can remain relevant. We need to do it regularly,” he said.

    Another teacher, Mrs Busayo Jibefun who teaches at the Local Government Nursery/Primary School Inclusive Unit, said she was glad regular teachers were part of the training as they need awareness about children with special needs.

    “Teachers from regular schools also need to gain awareness about special needs. Many of them run away, thinking the children should not mix with others,” she said.

    Mrs Jibefun also urged the government to consider training care givers attached to inclusive units as well.

    “All care givers should be taken into consideration for this kind of training because they work with us but they are not specialists. When we return from these training, we are the ones that tell them what to do,” he said.

    Other topics treated included: “Inclusive Education versus Special Education”, and “Stress Management for Care Givers and Teachers of Children with Special Needs” by Adelusi; “Overview of dimension of Children with Special Needs,” by Dr Femi Akintayo; “Challenges of Handling Children with Special Needs” and “Assessment Tools for Children with Special Needs” by Mr Ajirotutu; and “Classroom Management and Positive Behavioural Supports for Students With Special Needs” by Mrs Damilola Awolade.

     

  • Why we remain on strike, by varsity teachers

    Why we remain on strike, by varsity teachers

    The Federal Government may consider the N100 billion it has released out of the N500 billion for infrastructural projects in 61 universities a big deal but university teachers think otherwise.

    Despite pressure from various quarters that it should manage what the government has offered and end its 74-day old strike, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is not moved.

    Members of the union in the public universities nationwide are insisting that the Federal Government must honour the agreement by providing the funds according to the timetable and conditions both parties set.

    Ironically, many parents and students interviewed by The Nation seem to be behind ASUU. They are urging the union to ensure they get all that was agreed upon so that there would not be another strike soon.

     

    Journey to 2009

    ASUU/FGN Agreement

    The 2009 agreement was a product of negotiations with successive administrations, beginning in 1992 with that of former military president Gen Ibrahim Babangida. There were also re-negotiations in 1999 (under Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar); and 1999/2001 (under former President Olusegun Obasanjo), until the agreement was signed in 2009 (under the late President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua).

    ASUU President Dr Nasir Fagge said through the agreement, the union seeks to make universities competitive by ensuring that conditions of service are favourable to academic staff so as to reverse brain drain; provide adequate funding to universities; and ensure their autonomy and academic freedom.

    But, the pact’s implementation has over the years pitched ASUU against the government.

    Two outstanding issues define the ongoing strike: the release of funds accruing up to N500 billion to improve facilities in 61 public universities (27 federal and 34 state); and the non-payment of earned allowances put at N92 billion.

    In response to ASUU demands, the government set up a committee headed by Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam, to implement the recommendations of the committee on Needs Assessment of Public Universities which submitted its report to the National Economic Council (NEC) last November.

    The 11-man committee chaired by Prof Mahmood Yakubu, former Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), in its report, recommended that “Government shall consider the provision of quality infrastructure for teaching and learning in all universities as a national emergency.” The panel noted that the classrooms, laboratories and hostels of the 61 universities had decayed.

    The government released N100 billion for this purpose on August 21, almost two months after the commencement of the strike, to cover construction of classrooms, laboratories and hostels.

    It also announced the release of N30 billion for the earned allowances.

    However, the union is insisting on the full amounts stated in the agreement before calling off the strike.

    Suswam has condemned the union‘s stand, especially as the government has released of some funds to meet part of the demands.

    “There is nothing on the list of their demands that the government has not touched,” Suswam said when he hosted the National Union of Benue State Students last week.

     

    Why ASUU is not impressed

    Some lecturers told The Nation that accepting what the government was offering would only be postponing the evil day because the amount would continue to mount.

    Chairman, ASUU, Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH), Dr Nsing Ogar accused the government of insincerity. He said the N100 billion the government is paying now should have been released in April last year – with an additional N400 billion this year. He said by 2015 the amount released should be N1.3 trillion.

    He said: “Last year, there was an agreement between the government and ASUU that N100 billion would be injected into the university system to upgrade facilities. It was supposed to be released immediately. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in January 2012 and by April that sum of money was supposed to have been released. Also in that MoU there was an agreement that in 2013 another N400 billion would be released. Then in 2014 another N400 billion. Then in 2015 another N400 billion. That makes N1.3 trillion to upgrade facilities in the university system. We had tried to talk with government to ensure that these amount were released, they did not accept and that is why we are on strike. And if in 2013 they are releasing N100 billion, there is a shortfall of N400 billion, they have not told us, what next would happen in 2014 and 2015.”

    On his part, Dr. Abdulkadir Mohammed, the branch ASUU chairman, Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil, said members were irked that the N100 billion was recycled from the universities’ funds.

    He said: “Even the N100 billion that the government is talking about, there is a recommendation of the Technical Committee on how the N100 billion should be disbursed, that has been breached by government. Secondly, Nigerians should know the source of the N100 billion because our MoU with the government clearly stated that this money should be sourced outside state fund; that government should scout for the N1.3 trillion from other sources outside the Tertiary Education Trust Fund but we realised that the government is trying to do now is to go and block all the money in the state fund, mop it up and channel it into financing the recommendation of the need assessment and that is also not acceptable.

    “The union would not accept the effort by the government to mop the money belonging to universities within the Education sector for this purpose. The agreement is that they should scout for money elsewhere to finance this agreement and therefore if they fail to do that, this crisis will not abate.”

    Dr David Nanson Jangkam, Chairman of the University of Jos (UNIJOS) ASUU Chapter, said the N30 billion the government paid as earned allowances was just a third of the debt it owes the lecturers.

    “Let me tell you the level of insincerity of the government, the earned allowance, they are owing us is N92 billion, out of which the government has offered N30 billion, this is one-third of what they are owing us. Regarding the so called N100 billion they claimed to have approved for need assessment, they are taking that fund from the TETFund, which means they are robbing the university to pay the university,” he said.

     

    Parents support ASUU’s struggle

    Contrary to expectations, many parents interviewed by The Nation urged ASUU to ensure the government fulfils its promise this time so that there would be no strikes in future resulting from the present issues.

    Mr. Lawal Morakinyo, a business man whose son attends the University of Ibadan (UI), said the N100 billon does not even scratch the surface of the problem.

    “The N100 billion does not solve the problem because the school laboratories and the other situation have been on ground for many years and if they (ASUU) had been persistent in the sight of the government it wouldn’t be as grave as this. The money they are putting on ground is not an issue; we have seen cases like this. The money the government is giving is just a waiver – that I am giving you this money to keep your mouth shut and stop your ASUU strike,” he said.

    Another parent, Mr Fidelis Inde, who resides in Calabar, the Cross River State Capital, said he was not happy his children are at home. yet, he supports the strike because he believes the government can indeed meet ASUU’s demands.

    “Although our children staying at home is not in the best interest of anybody, but I believe the right thing should to be done. If there was an agreement, then that agreement should be honoured. I believe it is high time we stopped cutting corners in doing things. It would not turn out well for us in the long run, if we continue like that. What the people have demanded is not impossible to achieve. You just don’t dangle N100 billion before ASUU when you know that was not the initial agreement. It is important for ASUU not to set a bad precedent and ensure the agreement is honoured to the letter. Government, I believe can meet ASUU’s demands if it is sincere.”

    A trader in Akure the Ondo State Capital, Mrs Margaret Okeke, who has two children in the Adekunle Ajasin University at Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) in Ondo State, recalled that the government and ASUU face off had been rocking the education sector since the late President Yar’Adua administration, urging President Goodluck Jonathan to find a lasting solution to the problem.

    She urged the lecturers to shun appeals to resume when their demands have not been met.

    “Urging University lecturers to resume work is just like suspension of a battle that must be fought. The issue of the strike had been lingering on for so long in the higher institution and this is because the government has failed to implement the 2009 agreement it has with the workers.

    “If the ASUU should call off the strike, it will someday return to the battle field with the government since its demands have not been met. I think the government should fulfil its own part of the agreement. The PDP-led government spent more money on its convention, President’s wife’s women’s rally. It can easily dash out billions of naira to some dubious politicians in order to secure or remain in power. We can see and hear how they share the “National Cake” with their families and friends leaving us to grow in abject poverty.”

    Pastor Andrew Ayinloge, who stays in Akure, urged the government to curb waste elsewhere and meet the union’s demands.

    He said: “I will advise ASUU to go on with the strike until the government is ready to fulfil the agreement because if they should call off the strike and its demands are not met, they will one day go back to the strike.

    “Nigeria is rich enough to pay the workers. Let the government reduce the allowances of senators, governors, commissioners, House of Representatives and State Assemblies members if that will bring the solution to end the issue of strike in Nigeria.”

    Mr Remi Agunbiade, another parent agrees Nigeria is rich enough.

    He said: “If you look at the history of ASUU problem or history of education in Nigeria these are all the tricks government is using, ASUU demands for something, they will give them part of it and ask them to go back so it is still better for government to do the right thing at the right time. N100 billion is nothing to write home about when you consider the decay in infrastructure in our system; there is nothing N100 billion can do.

    “Mere organising PDP convention they will spend more than 100 billion so let the government do the right thing and solve the problem once-and-for-all, and I as a person I cannot blame government and I cannot blame ASUU. Why I cannot blame government is that most of their children are in private schools or overseas. So the children of the poor masses are in government schools. So the government officials don’t feel the pain.”

    A Lagos-based parent, Mr Abiodun Phillips, said he does not believe that the government has even released the N100 billion. “They are saying that they have approved the money but I don’t believe. That was how they signed an agreement in 2009 and they didn’t keep to it,” he said.

    Some parents are appealing to ASUU to suspend the strike for the students’ sake.

    Abraham Dalyop, a resident of Jos, Plateau State, said ASUU should give the government a chance.

    “Since the government and ASUU are discussing how to solve the issues, ASUU can suspend the strike and continue with negotiation. There is no point insisting on contnuing the strike; it is not healthy for our children,” he said.

    Another parent, Obinna Nwosu, who resides in Nnewi, described the situation as preposterous. His three children at home when they should be busy with their academic work. He appealed to ASUU to consider going back to their duty posts and urged the government to ensure that the agreement is kept.

     

    Students for and against

    Some students support the strike, while others are against it.

    Julius Ona a 300-level undergraduate of English University of Ibadan said he is for the strike but does not believe government will yield ground.

    “Though I see ASUU demands as genuine, but is it not possible to appeal to ASUU to accept the N100 billion now and continue negotiation later? Nobody in this country should pretend not to know government attitude to public education. ASUU demands had been for long and if government still turns a deaf ear, why should they believe government would answer now?”

    The President of National Association of Ondo State Students, Comrade Afolayan Awoloda advised the lecturers to remain on strike until the government fulfil its promise.

    He noted that the government was not blindfolded before signing the agreement in 2009, stressing that President Jonathan’s action has dealt a big blow to education at the international level.

    Awodola said: “Mr president should prove to Nigerians that he is worthy of leading us and stop embarrassing the nation. I still maintain that if there has been an agreement since 2009 and there has not been any modality on ground to fulfil the sealed agreement.

    I think ASUU, should remain on strike till the government fulfill diligently the content of the agreement since the government was not under duress or blindfolded when it signed the agreement.

    But, the National Association of Nigerian Student’s (NAN’s) representative in Akure, Gbenga Ayenuro appealed to the lecturers to resume in order to save the future of Nigerian students. The strike, he said, had rendered the students idle at home, warning that such act is dangerous to the country’s future.

    “NANS appeals to both ASUU and Federal Government to work towards resolving the present ASUU strike that has kept Nigerian students at home for over two months.

    “We are not happy with the way both parties are playing with the life and future of innocent Nigerian students. They have rendered us useless being at home, caused us hardship to survive and our parents to cater for us and caused more havoc by exposing Nigerian Students to social vices most especially our ladies.

    “At this point, we urge ASUU to shift ground for the sake of Nigerian Students and return to the classroom while deliberation continues on the earned allowance claims and we also appeal to the government to reconsider ASUU earned allowance claims.”

    A student of UNIJOS, Monday Philemon said: “We know our lecturers are fighting a genuine cause but they should consider that they will ruin the future of students if the strike lasts longer than this. These lectures are holders of master and PhD certificates, most of them are professors, so they dot care much about going to school again but we are in school and we also need to acquire the certificates they have acquired, they should not frustrate us please, the government has done enough.”

  • Cross River teachers resume strike

    Primary and secondary school teachers in Cross River State yesterday resumed their strike as schools reopened for a new term.

    A communiqué at the end of an Emergency State Wing Executive Council (SWEC) meeting of the Nigeria Union of Teachers on September 5 said they resumed the strike because of government’s refusal to implement the Teachers’ Specific Allowance (TSA).

    The communiqué was signed by the Chairman, Eyo-Nsa Eyo Itam, Secretary Livinus Eta Omini and Publicity Secretary Dennis Monche.

    It reads: “Arising from the meeting, which was attended by state elected officers and local government branch leaders, the state wing has noted that the government has failed to respect the agreement signed with the union to restore the Teachers Specific Allowance from July.

    “It was also discovered that promotion is yet to be completely and correctly implemented.

    “The suspended strike of June 2013 is hereby resumed. Teachers from public primary and secondary schools are therefore expected to sit at home from September 9 when schools are to resume.”

  • Ajimobi pardons 1,000 sacked teachers

    The Oyo State government has pardoned over 1,000 secondary school teachers, who were sacked some months ago for falsifying their ages.

    Addressing teachers at the Secretariat in Ibadan, the state capital, Governor Abiola Ajimobi said his administration decided to review their case after persistent appeals from the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) and stakeholders in the education sector.

    Ajimobi said a committee had been set up to review their case.

    He said those who falsified their ages would have their ages regularised and be reinstated. Those due for retirement would be retired and paid their entitlements.

    Describing teaching as a noble profession, the governor said his administration would continue to emphasise on integrity in the civil service, especially among teachers who are responsible for training future leaders.

    Ajimobi said although his administration has zero tolerance for fraud and corruption, there was need to review the cases to fulfil the legal maxim that “it is better to set 99 guilty men free than to allow one righteous man suffer injustice”.

    He said: “I assure you that before the end of the month, we would have concluded the review of all the cases and pardon many of you.”

    Some of the affected teachers admitted that they falsified their ages and pleaded for pardon. They pledged never to be involved in fraudulent acts again.

  • Teachers’ kidnappers reduce ransom

    Three primary school teachers, who were abducted at Orhogbua Primary school in Ekenwan village, are yet to be released after 13 days in captivity.

    Patience Osadolor, Momodu Aisha and Patience Oroghene were abducted on July 30 and a ransom of N60million was placed on them.

    Their abductors reduced the ransom to N15million last week and further reduced it to N7.5million, which is N2.5m per teacher.

    An official of the Edo State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), who pleaded anonymity, said the kidnappers informed the victims’ families that the N7.5million was the least they would collect.

    A source said the spouses have sent out Save our Soul letters to kind hearted Nigerians to help them raise funds for the release of their wives.

     

  • Govt makes offers to varsity teachers

    Govt makes offers to varsity teachers

    There seems to be no end in sight to the ongoing university lecturers’ strike, with the Federal Government saying yesterday that the 2009 agreement it signed with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) cannot be implemented.

    The union went on strike early in the month over what it called the failure of the government to fully implement the agreement. It vowed not to go back to work, until the government implements the agreement.

    The government said the complexity of the agreement had been responsible for the continued breakdown of negotiations between the two parties.

    Labour Minister Emeka Wogu stated this while briefing the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the activities of his ministry. It was at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.

    Wogu, however, said the government had entered into another round of talks with the varsity teachers, making some undisclosed offers to the teachers.

    “We have made offer to ASUU. It is as complex as presented. Negotiation is ongoing. The National Assembly is equally involved. We believe they will soon call off the strike. I personally and passionately appeal to them to call off the strike.

    “It will not affect the negotiation, if they call off the strike. It is better for them to be inside than outside. Students have equally appealed to them.”

    The minister added: “I inherited an agreement signed by the Federal Government with ASUU and that agreement is practically impossible for any administration to implement. We are still discussing with them. If I leave here, I am going to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) where we are meeting with them. I hope that very soon, we will resolve it.”

    Wogu expressed the government’s reservations about the agreement it earlier signed with ASUU, which has necessitated the setting up of yet another negotiation team, headed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim.

    The nine-point agreement the government entered into with ASUU include: funding requirements for the revitalisation of Nigerian universities; Federal Government’s assistance to state universities; establishment of NUPEMCO; and progressive increase in annual budgetary allocation to the education sector to 26 per cent between 2009 and 2020.

    Other components of the agreement are: payment of earned allowances; amendment to the pension/retirement age of academics non professorial cadre from 65 to 70 years; and reinstatement of prematurely dissolved Governing Councils.

    Also included in the agreement are: transfer of Federal Government’s landed property to the universities and setting up of research development councils and provision of research equipment to laboratories and classrooms in the nation’s universities.

    On job creation efforts of the government, Wogu told the PDP leadership that the Community Service Scheme Women and Youth Empowerment Programme of the Subsidy Re-Investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) of the Federal Government had already engaged 120,000 persons out of the 185,000 targeted for employment this year.

    He said since social security is an evolving structure, Nigeria is still basically trying to grow the concept to an acceptable international standard.

    “We are at the stage of putting in place a social security policy that would reflect the nation’s needs and level of economic development, taking into consideration the traditional as well as the modern socio-cultural values and norms,” he said.

    With the passing of the Employee Compensation Act in 2010, he said the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund was resuscitated and currently functioning, adding that it has the new mandate to provide social security services to the disadvantaged and vulnerable members of the society.

    Wogu said the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) was in the fore-front of job creation, especially in skills acquisition and empowerment of unemployed people.

     

  • Retiree urges govt to employ more teachers

    After 35 years of meritorious service in teaching in public primary schools, Mr Gabriel Olusola Igbayilola, bade farewell to his beloved profession last week.

    The former head teacher of Ajeromi Central Nursery and Primary School, Ajegunle, Lagos State, however, wishes that the government would employ more teachers for the school, and improve teachers’ welfare across board.

    Igbayilola, who retired as a Director of Education, said during his ‘pen down’ceremony held at the school, said the government should replace teachers that are retiring with new ones.

    “The government needs to employ more teachers because we are retiring. They are not bringing in new teachers, this children are suffering, no body to manage them. This school needs up to five teachers and the same thing is happening all over. The government has to do something about this otherwise the standard of education will fall drastically,” he said.

    Igbayilola also urged the state government to improve the salaries of teachers.

    “Where I want them to improve is on the salary of teachers, because the salary doesn’t take us home though they call it take home pay,” he said.

    Despite the poor pay, Igbayilola said he was fulfilled as a teacher.

    “If you are thinking about the money you will not be a teacher. The passion and joy I derive in teaching this children is what kept me going. I have achieved a lot and in facts I have no regret being a teacher, it is not the monetary aspect of teaching that matters to me, but the characters we are moulding. It’s a great achievement and am happy when I see most of them outside.”

    He urged the government to resume the payment of leave allowances.

    “I want them to go back to the former system where they usually give us once in November or December. They give us and we use it for January because January is the longest month in the year, because it looks like three months in a year so if they go back to that system by giving us our leave allowance once, the teachers will be happy,” he said.

     

  • Ondo council workers, teachers lament non-payment of salaries

    Ondo council workers, teachers lament non-payment of salaries

    Local government workers and primary school teachers in Ondo State are aggrieved over the non-payment of their salaries.

    Sources said the government deliberately ordered the suspension of the local government workers’ salaries following the discovery of a large scale fraud in the councils. There was also report of illegal recruitment of workers in the local governments.

    To restore sanity, over 6,000 ghost workers were dismissed from the local governments and verification was carried out to know the legitimate workers.

    According to the sources, the sacked workers were allegedly recruited into the local government service illegally by the Caretaker Committee chairmen in the 18 councils since 2009.

    It was learnt that the recruitment of the junior officers from Grade Level 01-06 was done in 2009 without the approval of the Local Government Service Commission (LGSC].

    The successive caretaker chairmen were said to have found it difficult to cope with the over-bloated monthly wage bill.

    It was learnt that some newly-employed workers were said to have no genuine letters of employment, and some were issued letters signed by their chairmen without the approval of the commission.

    The sources said the ‘illegal’ recruitments were more pronounced shortly before last year’s governorship election.

    Investigation showed that the excess number of workers at the councils was the bane of its development, as the authority found it difficult to carry out projects. Their monthly allocations were mostly being spent on salaries and wages.

    Apparently disturbed by the development, Governor Olusegun Mimiko ordered for a probe of the recruitment in the 18 local governments.

    A seven-man committee was constituted and it recommended the displacement of 6,000 workers in the local government service.

    However, the state President of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Mr. Ayo Omoregie, has debunked the allegation of illegal recruitments in the councils, stressing that the screening by the state government was normal to know the population of workers in the 18 councils.

    Omoregie said about 70 per cent of the workers had been paid April salary, adding that the state government has directed the payment of outstanding arrears.

     

  • Over 80% of North’s teachers unqualified, says NTI chief

    THE Director-General of the National Teachers Institute (NTI), Kaduna, Dr. Aminu Ladan Sharehu, has said less than 20 per cent of teachers in the North are qualified to teach.

    Also, Kaduna State Governor Mukthar Ramalan Yero has said only 50 per cent of teachers on the government’s payroll are qualified to teach.

    Yero and Dr. Sharehu spoke yesterday at a national conference on: Quality Assurance and Control in Teacher Education as a Tool for Achieving Millennium Development Goals, organised by Federal College of Education, Zaria.

    The NTI conducts in-service training for national Certificate in Education (NCE) teachers across the country through distance learning.

    But NTI chief said over 80 per cent of teachers in the North, especially those in primary schools are not qualified to teach.

    He explained that the figure was a sharp contrast with what obtains in the South, where the teachers are qualified.

    Dr Sharehu said several factors are responsible for the high number of half-baked teachers in the North, adding that many of them have never attended any training since they were employed.

    He said: “Over 80 per cent of teachers in the North are under-qualified because there is no motivation. You need to train and retrain teachers because NCE is just a starting point.

    “In teaching, we don’t have learned people, but learning people. This is because we believe that there is no end to learning till death. So, it is only lawyers that are proudly calling themselves learned.

    “As for what is really responsible for poor qualification of teachers in the North, I will save that for another day. But there is need for an increase in teachers’ salary, continuous increase in their remuneration to make them better teachers.”

    Yero, who was represented by the Commissioner for Education, Mohammed Usman, said the government had given the nearly 50 per cent unqualified teachers in the state an ultimatum to get requisite education.

    He said: “The Federal Ministry (of Education) stipulates that the minimum teaching qualification in our schools should be NCE. But majority of teachers we have today in the system are not NCE holders. So, how can they qualify to teach the new curriculum? There is no way. That means they are under-qualified. Believe me, many of our teachers today are under-qualified.

    “When I came on board as the Commissioner for Education in Kaduna State, I discovered that 50 per cent of the teachers, particularly those in primary schools, were under-qualified.

    “There is no way they can do the job very well. I have to give them a time frame of five years within which to upgrade their qualifications and become NCE holders…”

  • Fayemi urges teachers to end strike

    Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has urged striking teachers to accept the 15 per cent of the Teachers’ Peculiar Allowance, which the government is offering them.

    Teachers are demanding 27.5 per cent payment of the allowance.

    The governor spoke on Tuesday during a monthly live media chat, tagged: “Meet Your Governor”.

    He urged the teachers to end the strike “in the interest of the pupils, who have been at home for over three weeks”.

    Fayemi said the 12.5 per cent balance would be paid “when the state’s finances improve”.

    Explaining that the ongoing recruitment of teachers was not aimed at replacing the striking teachers, he said: “The process of employing more teachers to fill vacancies in the Teaching Service was already on before the strike began in June.”

    The governor urged the striking teachers to emulate their counterparts in Ogun State, “who showed understanding with their state government and ended the strike when offered 15 per cent increase”.

    He said Ogun State, which earns N5 billion monthly, could only offer 15 per cent because of the heavy burden the demand would put on its finances.

    Fayemi said the salary of teachers had been increased twice since he assumed office to motivate them.

    He said: “Teachers were on a minimum wage of N8,500 when I became governor and they have enjoyed both the 33 per cent relativity pay and N19,300 national minimum wage.

    “At the time the 33 per cent relativity pay rise was packaged for core civil servants, teachers showed interest and were included in the package, which they believed was higher than the 27.5 per cent special allowance.”

    Fayemi said the implementation of the 27.5 per cent allowance would increase the state’s monthly wage bill by N172 million, which would translate to over N2 billion annually.

    He said the current monthly wage bill is N2.2 billion and the state is left with N400 million for capital projects.

    The governor said: “My attitude is to continue to appeal to them because all of us are stakeholders. We are talking to them and we believe that good sense will prevail in the end.”

    On ongoing projects of his administration, Fayemi promised to complete them as scheduled. He said they are being financed with the N20 billion bond sourced from the capital market.

    The governor said the State Pavilion to be used for ceremonial events would be completed before the year runs out, adding that work has reached an advanced stage at the Funmi Olayinka Civic Centre.

    Dismissing claims in some quarters that the new Government House is not a priority, Fayemi argued that the structure presently being used as the Government House was designed to be a guest house.

    He said: “Ekiti is not a second-class state. I have visited other Government Houses in the country and I know what obtains there. This is not my personal building and when I finish my tenure, I will not carry it to Isan-Ekiti. That is why all these projects are called legacy projects.”