As teachers celebrate World Teachers’ Day, the Kaduna State chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), has urged the state government to pay salary arrears owed its members.
“Some teachers in Kaduna State are owed up to 11 months salary arrears; we think this is unfair,” Mr Audu Amba, the NUT chairman in the state, said on Thursday in Kaduna, at an event organised to mark the day.
Amba equally decried the consistent delay in the payment of local government teachers’ salaries.
“Sometimes, teachers are paid two or three weeks after other workers have received their salaries. We find this disappointing,” he said.
The chairman also urged government to pay teachers the balance of 2015 leave grant, as well as the 2016 leave grant that was still being awaited, according to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN.
“Ten per cent of teachers’ salary is deducted monthly and paid to them as their leave grant at the end of the year; paying the grant should actually be a right and not a privilege,” he said.
Amba called for more training and re-training of teachers, especially those in primary schools, so as to boost the quality of service delivery.
He said that the theme of the 2017 teachers day, “Teaching in Freedom: Empowering Teachers”, was to emphasise the need for a free teaching atmosphere.
“Teaching in freedom will encourage teachers to discharge their primary responsibilities of imparting knowledge, skills and character on the younger generation,” he explained.
Amba, nonetheless, commended the state government for the the massive rehabilitation and furnishing of public schools, and also lauded the unprecedented budgetary allocation of more than 33 per cent to the education sector.
“That huge budgetary allocation far exceeds the UNESCO recommendation of 26 percent,” he noted.