Ekiti State:  Payment of N30,000 minimum wage to start October— Fayemi

• Declare State Of Emergency In Education — Taraba Union
• Attract Young, Best Brains Into Teaching Profession — Group

Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, yesterday, announced his readiness to pay the N30, 000 minimum wage to workers beginning October this year.

Fayemi said the gesture was to stimulate workers, especially teachers, to deliver their best to the state and reclaim the lost glory and pride of being the “education nerve-centre of the country.”

The Governor spoke at Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado Ekiti, yesterday, during the 2019 World Teachers’ Day, with the theme: “Young Teachers, the Future of the Profession”.

At the event, Mr. Henry Olaoluwa Asubiojo of Amoye Grammar School and Tajudeen Olaoye of Anglican Primary School, Esun Ekiti and Mrs Mojisola Ehinafe of Technical School, Ado Ekiti, were awarded cash price of N500,000 each, for emerging as the best teachers in the state.

Fayemi said he decided to inject a new breed of teachers into public schools, by recruiting 2,000 new teachers to safeguard the state’s future.

He said: “We will commence payment of N30,000 to workers in Ekiti,  with effect from this month. We are determined to reward diligence because workers, particularly our teachers, have done the state proud. In this year’s WAEC, Ekiti was ranked 12th. We must continually do more to rise to Number One.”

Fayemi said he decided to establish more schools in Ado Ekiti to depopulate the overpopulated ones and make learning more conducive.

He said: “The only way we can reclaim our lost glory in education is to encourage our teachers in and outside service. I will promote functional and technical education.  I have also ensured all students of school age are in schools.”

The Provost, College of Education,  Prof. Isaac Adeoluwa , said for Nigeria to move to its pride of place, teachers must be made to be ICT compliant and embrace modern techniques of teaching.

The Chairman of the Ekiti State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Samuel Odugbesan, praised Fayemi for recruiting new teachers into public schools across the state.

His counterpart in Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, Sola Adigun, said prompt and regular payment of salaries had rescued the teachers from wanton poverty.

Meanwhile, the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS), yesterday, urged Taraba State government to declare a state of emergency in the education sector.

This, according to its leadership, could be done by establishing the State Teaching Service Commission to complement Federal Government’s efforts in upholding education in the country.

The state Chairman, Prince Sule Abasu, who made this known yesterday also urged the government to upgrade committed teachers to the position of ‘Tutor General,’ which he said, was equivalent to ‘Permanent Secretary’ in core civil service.

He called on the government to train and re-train teachers on modern information and communication technology.

He said: The best brains of yesterday might not be reckoned with today, arising from advancement in modern technology. Digital children of today may not be effectively taught by the present analogue teachers…”

Also, the Executive Director, Human Development Initiatives, Olufunso Owasanoye, has urged Lagos State Government to continue to improve the quality of the teaching profession to attract young and best brains.

In a statement, yesterday, she urged the government to provide basic social welfare packages for teachers and education officers

She said: “Government should widen sources of funding for education and encourage corporate sector investment as well as voluntary support. National examination bodies and relevant institutions should review upward the criteria for admission into education institutions; universities and Colleges of Education, to attract the best brains into the teaching profession. Government should strengthen the Quality Assurance Department of the Ministry of Education to regularly and effectively supervise, monitor education service delivery and school interventions…”