The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu has inaugurated the national implementation committee on the revitalisation and repositioning of the teaching profession for the newly approved special teachers salary.
Adamu, while inaugurating the committee in Abuja on Thursday, urged members to focus on specific areas of intervention as approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari at the 2020 World Teachers Day Celebration, approved incentives for teachers ranging from Special Teacher Salary Scale for teachers in basic and secondary schools, including provisions for rural posting allowances, science teachers allowance and peculiar allowance.
Others are Special Teacher Pension Scheme to enable the teaching profession retain its experienced talents as well as to extend teachers retirement age to 65 and teaching service year to 40 years, among others.
The minister said the assignment was a critical part of the Federal Government’s response to the emergency situation in the education sector with particular focus on the dearth of qualified and dedicated teachers to enhance quality teaching.
”I urge you to accord it all the importance it deserves and hopefully reverse the years of neglect of our teachers and begin the process of revamping our educational system that will be responsive to the 21st century demands.
”The universally accepted dictum states that no system can rise above the quality of its teachers.
“Unfortunately, our story has been that of the neglect of the teaching profession with all the attendant consequences in brain drain, poor incentives to the teaching profession and poor quality graduates.
”There was therefore clamour for improved general welfare and conditions of service for the teaching profession across all tiers of government,” he said.
Adamu emphasised the conviction of President Buhari that the teaching profession must be recognised as a major enabler to our development.
He noted that the knowledge, dedication and competence of teachers to a large extent should be the determining factors to the quality of graduates of tertiary institutions and contributions to national development.
He said the 12-man subcommittee would come up with the implementation strategy, noting that a memorandum would be presented at the National Council Meeting before the end of the year on the establishment related issues derived from the policy directives.
He added that the ministry was also interfacing with the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation for the reintroduction of the bill that was passed by the 8th National Assembly, which was not assented to by the president for legislative action by the 9th assembly.
Meanwhile, Mr Sonny Echono, Permanent Secretary in the ministry, who is also the Chairman of the committee, pledged the committee’s readiness to carry out the task effectively.
Echono gave assurance that the committee would work assiduously to ensure all the objectives articulated for implementation were presented in due course.
“We recognise the fact that there are three aspects of the assignment that will be done very quickly and we will adopt the principle of instalmental implementation without any confrontation with other agencies to finalise the new teachers salary scale.
”We are already in consultation with the states and we will be meeting with the head of service of the federation under the auspices of the National Council on Establishments before the end of this year to enlist their support,” he said.
Among members of the committee are the Executive Secretaries of the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), Chairman, National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission.
Others are representatives of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Federal Civil Service Commission, State Governments and Registrar, Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN).
