Five years after the Federal Government promised to implement a special salary structure for teachers, the promise has remained a pipe dream. This unfulfilled promise reflects broader challenges affecting teachers’ morale, productivity, and well-being. OWEDE AGBAJILEKE reports that despite their commitment, teachers continue to face difficulties, highlighting the need for urgent attention to address these issues and improve the sector.

Nnneoma Orji has always been passionate about teaching, dedicating her life to shaping young minds and nurturing the next generation of leaders. She has spent about two decades in the classroom, pouring her heart and soul into her work.

However, despite her dedication, she struggles to make ends, following the non-implementation of a professional salary structure for teachers in Nigeria. Her meagre salary barely covers living expenses, leaving her with little to no savings.

Her words echoed the frustrations of many teachers in Nigeria: “Despite my passion for teaching, I’m forced to live from hand to mouth, with no financial stability or security. The lack of a professional salary structure has made it impossible for me to plan for my future or my family’s well-being.”

Orji’s struggle is not unique. Many teachers in Nigeria face similar challenges, which affect their morale, productivity, and overall well-being.

Their cries seemed to have been heard in 2020 when the federal government announced new teachers’ salaries and reviewed years of service from 35 to 40. It transmitted the bill to the National Assembly, and in 2022, former President Muhammadu Buhari assented to the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act 2022.

Other promises include building low-cost housing for teachers in rural areas and sponsoring at least one yearly refresher training to benchmark best practices for improved teaching and learning.

The new salary structure is expected to make the least-paid teacher in the public service earn about N150,000 monthly, as against the current salary of about N49,000.

A month after the pronouncement, the national implementation committee on revitalising and repositioning the teaching profession was inaugurated. It was charged to focus on specific areas of intervention as approved by the president and submit its report after three months.

Buhari explained that implementing the new salary scheme encouraged teachers to deliver better services.

To address these challenges and set the country on the path of industrialisation where the educational system will produce the needed skills and manpower, Buhari approved among others, the reintroduction of bursary awards to education students in universities and colleges of education, with the assurance of automatic employment upon graduation; payment of stipends to Bachelor of Education students, as well as, granting them automatic employment after graduation.

According to the new provision, the Tertiary Education Fund (TETFund) will fund teaching practice in the universities and colleges of education, a special salary scale for teachers in basic and secondary schools, including the provisions for rural posting allowance, science teachers allowance, and peculiar allowance.”

A year later, the Nigerian government again pledged to reposition the teaching profession, promising to achieve most targets by January 2022.

However, teachers’ situation has deteriorated, and the government’s failure to fulfil its commitments has left educators in a precarious state.

Analysts noted that the delay in fully implementing the promised reforms has significant implications for the country’s education sector and the well-being of teachers.

Investigations by The Guardian showed that Nigeria has 2,202,535 teachers in both public and private schools. The breakdown of the data obtained from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) showed that 354,651 teachers are in Early Childhood Care and Development Education (ECCDE); 915,593 teachers in basic schools, and 419,291 in Junior Secondary Schools (JSS).

Although the National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC) lacks up-to-date data on the number of teachers in secondary schools, a report by Statista indicated that the country had about 513,000 teachers during the 2018/2019 academic session.

In the educators’ community, the news of the federal government’s approval was received with cheers as it was hoped to be a start in rebuilding Nigeria’s education system, which is in a deplorable state.

Nigeria has also not done well in global rankings, as it ranked 161 in the 2022 United Nations Development Programme’s ranking of countries based on the Human Development Index (HDI).

Besides, Nigeria and other Sub-Saharan African countries face the largest teacher gap: it will need a total of 17 million primary and secondary school teachers by 2030.

It is also the region with the fastest-growing school-age population. It is already struggling to keep up with demand: more than 70 per cent of the region’s countries face acute shortages of primary school teachers, rising to 90 per cent for secondary education.

In the next six years, countries must recruit almost 69 million teachers to provide every child with primary and secondary education. That is, 24.4 million primary school teachers and 44.4 million secondary school teachers.

Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) demands inclusive and equitable quality education for all by 2030. The needs are urgent; an estimated 263 million children and youth are still out of primary and secondary school.

SDG 4 includes a specific call for more qualified teachers and more support from the international community for teacher training in developing countries.

Nigerian teachers – especially those in primary and secondary schools – are poorly remunerated and work under some of the worst conditions imaginable.

Little wonder government-owned and many private schools are losing their best teachers to other sectors. The teachers feel unmotivated and least appreciated.

Meanwhile, teachers are concerned about their difficulties, including low pay, inadequate facilities, insufficient qualified educators, and poor working conditions.

They lamented that these challenges affect their well-being and ability to provide quality education.

In an interview with The Guardian, Tonia Alabi, a teacher, expressed frustration at the government’s inability to fulfil its promise of professional salaries for teachers, five years later.

She said this development has further exacerbated teachers’ challenges, leading to a decline in their morale and motivation.

Alabi emphasised that the government’s failure to implement the promised professional salaries has resulted in a brain drain in the education sector, with many qualified teachers seeking better-paying opportunities in other fields.

She said: “We are not just disappointed, we are demoralised. The government’s failure to fulfil its promise of a new salary structure made us feel like our profession was not valued. Many of my colleagues have left the profession or are planning to, and it’s hard to blame them. We need better working conditions, better pay, and more support to provide quality education for our students.”

Another teacher, Hassan Taiwo, emphasised that the lack of support and resources, poor working conditions, and low pay have created an unsustainable environment for educators.

He said many qualified teachers seek better opportunities elsewhere, leading to a significant brain drain in the sector.

Taiwo said: “We are not just leaving the profession, we are being pushed out. The lack of support, poor working conditions, and low pay make it impossible for us to continue. The government needs to take immediate action to address these issues and provide a sustainable environment for educators to thrive.”

Speaking on the development, the National President of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Audu Amba, expressed disappointment that out of numerous promises made to the union over the past five years, only one has been fulfilled – the extension of years of service.

He was, however, optimistic that the current administration would prioritise the implementation of welfare packages for teachers, stressing that they are essential for boosting their morale, job satisfaction, and overall performance.

Amba lamented that of the 36 states, only 21 have approved teacher elongation.

“Regarding the welfare packages for teachers, none have been implemented. However, I know that the federal government has started implementing the stipends for students who are taking education courses. We have not relented in persuading the government to keep its promise. We all know that government is a continuous process.”

The NUT president warned that the challenge of attracting and retaining young, dedicated persons into the teaching profession would remain unabated if educators’ living and working conditions are not given due attention and addressed in the interest of teachers’ effectiveness and greater service delivery.

He noted that teachers not only work under deplorable conditions, but they often suffer public disdain, disregard, and are denied their due status and rightful place in society.

This, Amba noted, negatively affects the needed attraction and retention of new professionals in the teaching service.

The immediate past NUT Secretary, Dr Mike Ene, while appealing to President Tinubu to ensure that the outlined welfare packages are implemented, said that some of the issues only require policy direction, and as such, should not be delayed.

For instance, under the housing scheme for teachers, Ene said the federal government could come up with a policy pronouncement on where it would be domesticated, which can be in the states, while the FG would come up with a prototype for them to copy.

“An inter-ministerial committee was set up by the Federal Ministry of Education, comprising the Federal Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice and National Incomes, Salaries and Wages Commission, while directors from various states were brought in to determine what each state would pay, and the wages commission was mandated to work on the package.

But as we speak, that was the last we heard of the matter until the Buhari administration left office,” Ene said.

He said another key issue the government should implement was the promise to raise the bar of employment for teachers, such that if university graduates are placed on grade level eight, those who studied education would be placed on grade level nine, to serve as an incentive.

He said it was unfortunate that after several years, the policy was not implemented either at the federal or state level, despite efforts made by the leadership of NUT to ensure its enforcement.

“What we are saying, therefore, is that governments at all levels, whether at the local, state, or federal level should not play politics with education,” Ene said.

Stakeholders also expressed worry that the development raises concerns about the government’s commitment to addressing issues bordering on teachers’ welfare and educational development.

According to them, the government’s actions seem inconsistent with its promises, leading to concerns about its commitment to improving teachers’ welfare and advancing educational development.

They emphasised that teachers’ welfare and educational development are crucial to the nation’s progress, and Tinubu’s administration must prioritise these areas to ensure quality education and a brighter future for Nigerian students.

A public affairs analyst, Emmanuel Omole, noted that studies have shown that welfare practices significantly affect teacher performance and productivity.

Citing a study on the impact of teacher welfare on quality education, Omole noted that emphasis on staff welfare motivates teachers, enhancing their efficiency and effectiveness.

An official of the Federal Ministry of Education, who pleaded anonymity, said that the government was implementing the promises systematically.

He said when the federal government approved the revitalisation policy for teachers, there were about 11 items, out of which six have been addressed.

“One, you are all aware of the elongation of years of service; there was also a scholarship for every student studying education in our universities, which is being implemented partially. We have written to the presidency, so scholarship is partially ongoing; others will be addressed in due course,” the official added.