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NASU decries exclusion from new salary package for teachers in primary, secondary schools

By Collins Olayinka, Abuja
09 June 2022   |   2:39 am
The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) has lamented the exclusion of its members from the new salary package for teachers in primary and post-primary schools

The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) has lamented the exclusion of its members from the new salary package for teachers in primary and post-primary schools in the country.

President, Schools and Colleges Trade Group Council of NASU, Haruna Kamara, who decried the development at the regular meeting of the group, said the step would ensure the retention of the best and most skilled teachers in the industry. 

He said there is an urgent need to extend the same package and incentives to non-teaching colleagues, who essentially render the needed support service that eases the act of imparting sound knowledge. 

In justifying NASU’s position, Kamara argued that some non-teaching staff are professional in their callings and are academically more qualified than some teachers.

He said: “NASU has been restlessly working to ensure that non-teaching personnel and support staff in the nation’s public primary and post-primary schools are not left out of the implementation of Federal Government’s approved 60 to 65 years retirement age and 35 to 40 years of service for our teaching colleagues in this sub-sector.”

Karama noted that if the dichotomy is not quickly corrected, it could cause division and disquiet in the primary, and post-primary sub-section.

In his welcome address, Dr Tso Zakari, who spoke on behalf of the FCT branches’ chairmen, lauded the management team for improving staff welfare. 

He added: “The education sector has never had it this good, especially in the area of staff welfare. In the FCT, promotions are not only promptly conducted but also promptly implemented. Other staff entitlements and incentives are never overlooked by this administration as well as training and capacity building for staff in the education sector.”

He appealed to the FCT Minister, Muhammad Bello, to include non-teaching staff in the planned implementation of the elongation of the years of service of teachers to 65 years and 35 years in service.

Meanwhile, a former Minister of Education, Ibrahim Shekarau, has identified a lack of trust for unending strikes in universities. 

Shekarau said the government must engage protesting unions in meaningful and sincere negotiations for the sake of the students who are stranded at home. 

He cautioned the government against embarking on frivolous expenditures and guide its officials from indulging in unmitigated corruption while painting different realities to the unions during negotiations. 

Shekarau explained: “There is a lack of trust in government by the unions. How can there be trust when the government borrows so much and it is difficult to see the results of borrowing, convincing unions that there is no money becomes a very difficult task. The thinking by people that government is always right is very wrong.

The summary of this is that people have lost confidence in government. Nigerians no longer have trust in the people governing them. When the government says it does not have resources to meet the demands of varsity workers, its officials go ahead to perpetuate monumental corruption, how then can government convince the unions they don’t have money?”

In his intervention at the meeting, the NASU general secretary, Peters Adeyemi, foreclosed early reopening of universities, saying there is no dialogue going on between the four university unions and Federal Government. 

Adeyemi said the tripartite meeting chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, has achieved very little so far. 

He said: “Well, there has been no contact since the first meeting. The meeting gave the task of conducting integrity tests for the University Transparency Accountability System (UTAS) by ASUU and the University Peculiar Payroll Payment System (U3PS) developed by non-teaching staff unions. The salaries, income and wages commission were also directed to look into the salary structures. As I speak, we have not heard anything from these agencies of government. So, nobody should be talking about reopening universities when virtually all the issues in contention have not been addressed. The only thing we have seen is the implementation of consequential adjustment of minimum wage. To this, we applaud the Federal Government. I can confirm that our members in the universities, polytechnics and Colleges of Education have started to receive payment. Although there have been some complaints about the payment that is expected, we are hopeful that the government will expedite action on this and ensure members get the payment before long.”

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