Teachers demand implementation of new salary structure, other welfare packages
By Naomisophyblog
Nigerian teachers have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to direct the immediate implementation of the new enhanced salary structure for teachers in the country, earlier approved by the Federal Government in 2020.
Recall that former President Muhammadu Buhari, during the 2020 World Teachers Day celebration, announced some robust welfare packages for teachers in Nigeria, which he intended would bring back the lost glory of the teaching profession while attracting the best brains into the profession.
Apart from the new salary structure, other incentives promised by the former president at the event, ranged from increase in retirement age from 60 to 65 years and length of service from 35 to 40 years.
Also promised were rural allowance for teachers posted to rural communities, increase in science allowance, peculiar allowance, automatic admission and tuition-free schooling for kids of teachers at their place of work, automatic recruitment of B.Ed graduating students, and payment of stipends to Bachelor of Education students or education special allowance among others.
However, about three years down the lane, the teachers, under the auspices of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), were agitated that most of the promises made by the government are yet to be translated into a reality.
Secretary-General of the NUT, Dr Mike Ene, in an interview with Nigerian Tribune in Abuja, called on President Tinubu to ensure that the outlined welfare packages are implemented without further delay, in line with the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda of his administration.
The NUT boss said government is a continuum and that the implementation of the packages would go a long way to boost the morale of teachers as well as help attract more quality hands into the teaching profession.
“Nigerian teachers, especially teachers at the primary and post-primary levels, will not forget President Buhari in a hurry because he doled out a bonanza to them in 2020.
“However, the only thing that we have pinpointed so far is the issue of the retirement age of teachers, which became a law in 2022 when the president signed the bill,”he said.
He noted that some of these things require policy direction and not necessarily financial commitment and, as such, needed not to be delayed, suggesting that “for instance, under the housing scheme for teachers, the Federal Government could come up with a policy pronouncement on where it would be domesticated, which can be in the states with the Federal Government coming up with a prototype for them to copy.”
“Moreso, we are more interested in the special salary structure for teachers. An inter-ministerial committee was set up by the Federal Ministry of Education, comprising the Federal Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice and National Incomes, Salaries and Wages Commission. Various directors from various states were brought in,”Ene said.
He added that the committee, among other things, was to determine a midpoint on what ‘state A, B and C can pay,’ explaining that salary structures from all the states of the federation were collated, while the National Incomes, Salaries and Wages Commission was mandated to work on the package.
“But as I speak to you, that was the last we heard of the matter until the Buhari administration left the office,” he said.
This, according to him, was despite the assurance given to teachers by a former Minister of State for Education, Honorable Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, when he announced at a symposium held as part of activities marking the 2021 World Teachers Day that Nigerian teachers would begin to enjoy the new salary structure promised by the then President Muhammadu Buhari from January 2022.
Dr Ene disclosed that the union is putting up a position paper articulating the demands and concerns of teachers in Nigeria, to be presented to the new ministers of education, noting that the issue of special salary structure for teachers is cardinal on it.
He stated that one key issue that teachers also wanted to see implemented was the promise to raise the bar for employment for teachers, such that if university graduates are placed on Grade Level eight, those who studied education while entering into teaching would be placed on Grade Level nine to serve as an incentive.
Read Also:How multinationals can drive growth and skills transfer in the African data centre market.
He said it was unfortunate that after several years this policy had not been implemented either at the federal or state public services level in spite of efforts made by the leadership of NUT to ensure its enforcement.
“What we are saying, therefore, is that governments at all levels, whether at the local, state or federal level should not play politics to education” Ene said.
