The National President of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Audu Titus Amba, has condemned some state governments over the non-payment of primary school teachers despite the current harsh economic situation in the country.
Amba, who spoke during the first quadrennial delegates conference of the Federal Wing of NUT in Abuja on Tuesday, called on the Federal Government to amend the constitution to make the first 9-year of basic education a core responsibility of the state governments.
He noted that it would help address the challenge of non-payment of salaries of teachers by the local government councils.
“I urge the Minister of Education to lend his executive voice through the Federal Executive Council, by urging them to cause an amendment in the 1999 Constitution, whereby the first nine years of basic education be made a core responsibility of the state governments instead of the local government councils.
“It is only when the funding of basic education is made a core constitutional responsibility of state governments that the toxic phenomenon of non-payment of primary school teachers salaries will be a thing of the past across the states of the federation,” he said.
Amba lamented over the backlog of salaries and promotion arrears owed both federal and state teachers adding that if the vision for the future of education in Nigeria would be meaningfully realised, the welfare of teachers must be given priority in the policies and programmes of all the tiers of government in the country,
He said the theme of the conference, “Teacher Welfare: The Catalyst for Educational Change in Nigeria,” encapsulates the essence and significance of the teacher as the fulcrum, upon which the mill of education process and industry revolves.
Also speaking, the Chairman of NUT, Federal Wing, Alex Okonta, lamented that teachers of Federal Government Colleges (Unity Schools) are being owed accumulated arrears.
He called on the Federal Government to ensure payment of these arrears without delay.
Okonta also demanded for the establishment of the Federal Teaching Service Commission, adding that a functional teaching service commission would remove the bottleneck affecting the promotion and restore the lost glory of federal schools in Nigeria.
He further called for the implementation of the new Teachers Salary Scale (TSS), approved in 2020 by the last administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
He lamented that a lot of federal teachers have not been promoted for years while calling for their promotion as and when due given the nature of the job they do.
Okonta also spoke on the policy of disarticulation of schools, noting that while the states have carried out this policy, federal schools are still operating on the old system.
He further stated that the non-implementation of the policy has been affecting the standard and welfare of teachers.