NUT urges Borno govt to reopen closed schools

THE Borno State Chapter of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has pleaded with the state government to “reopen” all public schools in Maiduguri metropolis that were closed by the governor last May because of insurgency in the state.

  Chairman of the NUT, Mr. Bulama Abiso, who pleaded for reopening of the schools during his courtesy visit to the Commissioner of Education, Mr. Isa Buratai, said with relative peace being restored to the metropolis, the closed schools should be reopened for students to resume their studies.

  His words: “Let me use this opportunity Sir to call on the Borno State government to consider reopening all the closed schools in Maiduguri. Since the closure of these schools last May, our students have spent about nine months with their parents and guardians without going to school. And they are losing academically and morally since they were asked by their principals to pack out of schools premises and join their parents as their safety were not guarantee because of this insurgency.”

  Besides the reopening of the schools, Abiso also urged the state government to fully implement the minimum wage of N18,000 for teachers, including “improved teachers’ welfare and yearly increments” for primary school teachers.

  Responding, the commissioner said that parents and guardians who are mainly farmers and traders that lost their means of livelihood are to be assisted by government in order to reduce the hardship being experienced by them.

  Such government assistance, he said, include the subsidisation of WAEC and NECO registration fees of students by 75 per cent.

  “In as much government has accorded education top most priority, parents may however be asked by the Ministry of Education to pay 25 per cent of such examination. Borno State government is planning to pay the registration fees of the WAEC and NECO examinations for the Senior Secondary School Students, who are graduating later this year,” said Buratai.