Why teachers leave Niger schools, by NUT

Inability of the Niger State government to include teachers of primary and post-primary schools in the November 2018 Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure (CONPSS) upward review by 25 per cent has forced teachers to leave the state in droves.

Chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Niger State wing, Adamu Akayago, disclosed this in his keynote address on the 2023 World Teachers’ Day celebration, with the theme, ‘The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage’, at the NUT Secretariat, Minna.

Akayago regretted that teachers, who are torchbearers of positive transformations, were always neglected, reduced to beggars and treated as insignificant civil servants by the state when it comes to the issue of welfare enhancement.

The NUT chair further revealed that the N30,000 minimum wage for state civil servants had not been fully and properly implemented for secondary school teachers as agreed with organised labour, while primary school teachers on salary Grade Level 7 and above were yet to enjoy the package.

Commissioner of Basic and Secondary Education, Dr. Hadiza Mohammed, disclosed that Governor Umaru Bago had given her ministry a marching order to study not only the shortage of teachers in schools but to work out modalities on their welfare.

Asabe maintained that the ministry had since swung into action by working with relevant stakeholders to achieve results.

Earlier, Governor Bago, represented by his deputy, Yakubu Garba, while congratulating NUT on the Teachers’ Day celebration, stated that the government was proud of the numerous welfare programmes the NUT established for its members in the state.

The governor called on teachers to be more dedicated, resourceful and support his administration towards enhancing the educational standard of the state.

Highlight of the celebration was the distribution of learning materials to both primary and post primary schools across the 25 local councils of the state.