NIGER State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has made a passionate appeal to the state government to pay attention to teachers who have retired from service for two to three years now without access to gratuity or pension.
Outgoing chairman, Comrade Ibrahim Umar, made the appeal at the union’s sixth Quadrennial State Delegates Conference held on Tuesday at the Federal College of Education, in Kontagora Local Government of the state.
Comrade Umar said that the situation had forced some of the retired teachers into street begging and some to untimely death, and urged the state government to pay attention to the challenges that bedeviled the pension scheme in the state.
He appealed to the state government to sustain the tempo of the ongoing rehabilitation of school structure, facilities as well as provision of teaching materials to create conducive teaching and learning atmosphere.
The NUT chairman also urged the state government to train and retrain teachers, pay teachers’ promotion arrears and motivate them to enable them render quality service.
Umar noted with satisfaction that under the Teachers End Well Scheme, the state chapter of the union, in the past four years, had spent N188,102,400 on landed property towards strengthening the economic status of its members.
In a keynote address, the guest speaker, Mallam Yabagi Alfa, the deputy registrar, Niger State College of Education, Minna, said the quality of teachers determines the quality of educational system of any nation in the world.
Speaking on the theme ‘Improving Teachers’ Quality, Enhancing Our Educational Standard’, Alfa pointed out that the present quality of education in the country should not only be sustained, but be improved upon in line with global best practices.
In a goodwill message, the national president of the union, Comrade Michael Alogba Olukoya , commended the state wing of the NUT over its achievements and sustainable peace over the years, describing the chapter as one of the best in the country.
Olukoya, who was represented by the chairman, Borno State chapter of the union, Comrade Bulama Abiso, advised teachers to register with the Teachers Registration Council, in the exercise that will commence in May this year to enable them procure a professional licence to practise anywhere in the world.
Olukoya reminded members that the minimum entry qualification for this professional exam ination is the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE). He also thanked the Niger State government for supporting the union.
Members from no fewer than 20 states across the country were represented at the conference.
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