Sad still, there seems to be no end in sight for the amelioration of their plight and this makes their situation quite pitiable. Most of Nigeria’s youths are led into embracing teaching because gainful employments are not easily come by.
A large number of graduates from different fields even those from non-educational courses find solace in taking up teaching appointments as a job of last resort either in public schools for those who are lucky and so many others without connection in the numerous private schools.
Joining the teaching service is however often a most regrettable decision because teaching is the only profession where members are expected to look towards their rewards in heaven! So much so that even when students that pass through them become well-placed in the society, the teachers remain on the same spot like stagnant water.
Even with such realization, many people still linger on in the job due to the absence of any better alternative and in conformity with the adage that a bird at hand is worth more than ten in the bush.
The most daunting problem confronting most junior teachers is accommodation. Teachers working in large cities are most times posted to schools which are miles apart from their residence and have to leave home very early in order to meet up. They are subjected to heavy traffic in the morning thereby getting to their schools late and extremely fatigued. Under such condition, they hardly have any time to rest before jumping from a class to another to teach. After the closing hours, they join another hurdle of rigorous traffic while returning home.
With these excruciating conditions which teachers are subjected to and which can never allow them to give their utmost best, the first step to take by any responsible government seeking the very best for its learners ought to have been to search for how to handle the issue of teachers accommodation creatively with even a legislation to make teachers reside in the same local council areas of their schools of primary assignment.
This can easily be done through the construction of teachers’ quarters in different locations especially since all government schools have more than enough spaces to put up such apartments. Solving such a nagging issue of accommodation for teachers will address a whole lot of problems.
However, the result of government’s seeming insensitivity to such issue is that most of the work going on in the various public schools are too wishy-washy and shoddy to achieve any tangible desired results. Forget the fact that schools still parade excellent results in external examinations.
Those who understand the rubrics of the profession know quite clearly the strategies by which such results are obtained. Since the governments at state level continue to display such nonchalant attitude towards the issue of teachers’ accommodation, the Nigeria Union of Teachers, the umbrella body for teachers nationwide, ought to champion such issues so that teachers will not continue spending their meagre salaries on transport.
But the NUT is neither here nor there as it is never known to live up to expectation or proactive. Unlike other strong labour unions such as Academic Staff Union of Universities, National Association of Resident Doctors, The Nigerian Society of Engineers, Nigerian Bar Association and many others, the NUT has never been active in presenting before successive governments the various challenges confronting its members.
For instance, the NUT does not seem to see the need to include in its schedule the plights of all those in the private schools who are being enslaved continually by school owners. The NUT, it seems, is interested only in concerning itself with those in the public schools especially in the monthly subscriptions deducted from public school teachers’ salaries and paid directly into its coffers without any corresponding assistance rendered to its members.
The immediate past president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari some years ago made an open declaration extending the years of service for teachers from thirty-five years to forty and retirement age from sixty to sixty-five perhaps having observed the disparity between the years of service of those in the tertiary institutions and those of the other levels of education and felt that what was sauce for the goose should also be same for the gander.
Rather than seize upon such open pronouncements by Mr President to take the issue up with the various state governments for immediate implementation, the NUT again failed woefully and therefore allowed the governors to deny teachers of such benefit. Besides, the conditions under which Nigeria teachers are made to work are rather too chaotic and openly counter-productive as most secondary school classrooms are too congested and completely unconducive for both the teaching and learning processes.
Moreover, teachers ought to have access to dressing allowance in order to look their best while standing before students since good dressing itself enhances self confidence just as it also goes a long way to encourage the learners to embrace education in its entirety.
But rather than approach any government to make such demands as would promote teachers outlook and outcomes, the NUT only simply fold its hands and watch things deteriorate.
In the light of the above, the real essence of NUT as a body representing teachers is called to question and whether it is not about time membership of it be thrown open and made voluntary. Because if for instance, people are allowed to decide, it is doubtful if any teacher would willingly choose to belong and subscribe to a body which only collects monthly subscriptions from members without showing any interest whatsoever in their numerous plights.
• Jide Oyewusi, a retired director of education is also the coordinator of Ethics Watch International, Lagos.
