THE Lagos State government has reaffirmed commitment to the well-being of the state-owned secondary school teachers who have retired from active service.
The chairman of the state’s Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), Mrs Elizabeth Olabisi Ariyo, gave this assurance at the 2021 welfare forum organised for retired teachers in the state, who are in their 70s and above at the Alausa secretariat, Lagos, recently.
She said the administration of Babajide Sanwo-Olu had resolved to ensure that the welfare and wellness of not only the teaching service pensioners, but also that of all the state government pensioners across boards and times were given sustained priority.
She said that was why apart from the prompt payment of their pensions and gratuities generally, those in the teaching profession are also being brought together yearly for medical checkups and to educate them on healthy lifestyle.
She said that the effects of the practice are not limited to pensioners having a deep sense of belonging, but are also extended to teachers who are still in active service as evidences have shown that workers in service naturally put in their best and get good results when they have an assurance of a secure future after retirement.
While urging the retirees to continue to maintain a healthy lifestyle so as to live long and in good health, Mrs Ariyo promised that the government would continue to sharpen the knowledge and skills of teachers who are in service and take their welfare as a serious business in order for them to do well at work and other lawful engagements.
In her welcome address earlier, the permanent secretary of the Commission, Mrs Toyin Machado-Onanuga, said the 2020 edition of the annual get-together did not hold due to COVID-19 pandemic.
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She said it was a good thing seeing the senior citizens, who had contributed so much to the development of education in the state to remain alive and well more than a decade after retirement.
However, some of the retirees who were very excited to be at the event spoke to Nigerian Tribune, sharing their experiences while in service and now in retirement.
They said they had no regret being teachers and particularly for working in the Lagos State-owned schools as they retired as fulfilled teachers.
However, they observed that teachers nowadays, especially in the past 15 years, are not as committed and diligent as those in the olden days.
One of them, Madam Aduke Ezezebor, 82, said many teachers nowadays particularly in government schools, do abandon their work in pursuit of extra money at the expense of students’ future.
She advised those in that category to desist from such practice and concentrate fully on their work or quit the teaching profession entirely if they could not cope with the rules of engagements.
On the welfare forum organised for them, she said every pensioner in the state teaching service always looks forward to the event as it also serves as a reunion to them.
She declared that if the state government had not bothered about their welfare after retirement, they would not have honoured the invitation to the forum.
She urged the government to make schools more conducive for teaching and learning in the state.