NUT gives Edo government three weeks to address teachers’ welfare

Edo State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has issued a three-week ultimatum to the state government to address its members’ poor conditions of service.

The teachers’ demands were contained in a communiqué issued after its enlarged state executive council meeting in Benin City.

The communiqué was signed by the chairman, Fidelis Oigbochie; secretary, Mike Itua; and the leadership of its affiliate unions.

In the statement, the union demanded the payment of allowances to teachers that participated in the 2018 and 2019 EDO BEST programs.

It lamented that after the training programmes, both serving and now retired primary school teachers that participated were not paid despite the huge budget for it by the state government.

The union also decried the non-payment of primary school teachers in Oredo and Uhunmwode councils of their 2013, 2014 and 2015 promotion arrears by State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

Other demands of the teachers are the immediate release of N60 million subvention for 2018/2019 third term to schools as approved by the state government.

It condemned the purported plan by SUBEB to introduce competency test as a measure to appoint school heads in the state, even with an existing suit at the National Industrial Court (NIC), Enugu. It described any form of test for the appointment of school heads as unacceptable.

While lamenting the shortage of teaching personnel, the teachers called for immediate recruitment of teaching staff in public primary schools to replaced retired ones.

“The leadership of Edo SUBEB has assumed the dimension of dictatorship and a sole administrator with brazen intellectual and managerial arrogance, gross insensitivity to the plight of teachers and now uses intimidation as a weapon to coerce teachers to do its bidding,” they added.