The persistent rise in inflation is eroding the increase in salaries and pensions of both serving and retired teachers, prompting repeated calls for improved welfare for educators nationwide.

An Education Trainer and Team Lead of Regalo Hope Foundation, Dr Chinenye Ebele Onuorah, who spoke in Lagos during a training programme for about 500 teachers in Igando, made a passionate appeal for better treatment of teachers.

Onuorah emphasised the need for more robust programmes to enhance the working conditions of teachers across the country.

She urged both the federal and state governments, as well as private school owners, religious organisations, and the private sector, to collaborate in addressing the challenges faced by educators.

The Education Trainer, while highlighting the struggles faced by teachers, pointed to poor salaries, inadequate housing, limited medical care, and delayed payment of gratuities and pensions as key issues.

She recalled incidents where retired teachers collapsed while queuing for their entitlements after decades of dedicated service.

“Majority of teachers in Nigeria are merely surviving. They are not enjoying quality living. Only very few teachers in private schools get fairly decent wages. All the improvements in salaries and allowances of teachers often get wiped off by runaway inflation as is currently happening all over the country,” she said.

She further noted that the worsening economic situation is making it increasingly difficult for teachers to maintain a decent standard of living, saying: “We need to act fast to rescue our education sector from poor performance by poorly motivated teachers.”

As part of her support during the training programme, Onuorah helped to settle the rent of over 10 retired teachers who were at risk of eviction.

In her address, she outlined critical steps for improving the welfare of serving and retired teachers to include a standard living wage nationwide, housing schemes with low-interest mortgages, comprehensive insurance coverage, including mental health, and transport stipends for urban and rural areas.

She also highlighted the need for access to modern teaching tools and Internet facilities, continuous training and capacity-building programmes, pension reform and secure retirement plans, effective teacher protection policies, public-private support funds with tax incentives, and teacher participation in policymaking processes.

“These are attainable goals if government gets seriously committed,” Onuorah concluded.