The executive director of the Education Rights Initiative, Dr Solomon Udah, has asked the federal government to stop paying lip service to the education sector, especially the teaching profession, which he noted has suffered neglect over time.
Dr Udah, while reacting to the speech made by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu last week during the commemoration of the 2023 World Teachers Day, said the speech was not different from the same “old empty promises”, which were never backed by action.
Speaking in an interview with Nigerian Tribune on Monday in Abuja, he insisted that teachers in Nigeria deserve a living wage in view of the critical role they play in nation-building, saying there is virtually no enlightened individual either in authority or in the society that has not been taught by teachers, wondering why such an important group of people could be so ill-treated.
Udah noted that the expectations of Nigerians was for President Tinubu to use the occasion of the 2023 World Teachers Day to officially announce the percentage of the new salary structure the federal government would be willing to pay and its take-off date so as to enable state governments to follow suit.
While stressing that government is a continuum, he maintained that Tinubu’s silence on the issue of a new salary structure for teachers was not good enough, saying the President dashed the hope and expectations of teachers.
“But what did we get? The same old empty promises. We did not hear about what percentage teachers are going to receive as their new salary structure or the take-off date because, if you will recall, the last administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari said the newly approved TSS would commence in January 2022.
“Now, 2023 is almost gone, and nothing concrete has been put in place to actualise that. Even no mention was made of it by the President in his speech that was delivered on his behalf by his deputy, Vice-President Kashim Shettima, at World Teachers Day.
It was gathered that the new salary structure is expected to make the least-paid teacher in the public service earn between N150,000 and N300,00 monthly as against the current salary of about N49,000.
Recall that the Buhari-led administration had, in a bid to address the decadence in the education sector as it affects the quality of learning and welfare of teachers, approved a special Teachers’ Salary Structure (TSS), during the commemoration of World Teachers Day in October 2020.
He also approved a special pension scheme to enable the teaching profession to retain its experienced talents. Buhari, as well as extended teachers’ retirement age to 65 years and their duration of service from 35 to 40 years. These promises were all in a bid to attract the best brains and improve the sector.
“Only great teachers can produce excellent people and students that will make the future of our country great. I am aware that the status and stature of teachers in Nigeria are currently at their lowest ebb.
“The government notes the emergency situation in our educational system with particular reference to the dearth of qualified and dedicated teachers to enhance the quality of teaching and learning at all levels of our educational system, and the need to ensure that our graduates are globally competitive has become more compelling in the circumstance,” Buhari had stated in his speech at the 2020 WTD.
National President of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Audi Titus Amba, however, said that of all the welfare packages promised by the last government, only the extension of teachers’ retirement age to 65 years and duration of service from 35 to 40 years has been implemented by the Federal government and 14 states.
“We, however, observe with great concern that the approved incentives for teachers are largely unaddressed three years after.
“For instance, the Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers has been implemented by only 14 States and the FCT for their teachers.
He called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to activate the Teacher Policy Reforms of the past administration by ensuring the full implementation of the Teacher Incentives approved in 2020.
