A teachers all over the world celebrate the year 2017 World Teachers’ Day, the Akwa Ibom State Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has insisted on up-to-date payment of promotion arrears, grant to teachers at all levels and refund of 7.5 contributory pensions money to teachers.
Addressing Akwa Ibom teachers in Uyo on Thursday, the State Chairman of NUT, Comrade Etim Ukpong, stressed the need to make education a priority through deliberate budgetary provisions.
Referring to the theme of this year’s World Teachers’ day celebration “Teaching in Freedom, Empowering Teachers”, Ukpong said empowering teachers includes; providing facilities (up-to-date) for use in the teaching and learning process, funding education through adequate and regular subventions to schools and education offices”.
Others, the Chairman outlined to include; constantly updating facilities and infrastructure in schools and educational offices, ensuring that public school learners move with global trends through provision of ICT equipment, making a deliberate policy of recognizing, rewarding and lifting the social status of the teachers and those who go to school; paying up the teachers’ entitlements and making it regular and prompt, among others.
The Union also used the occasion to request for a Toyota Coaster Bus and a Toyota Hilux Van from government to ease movements especially during programmes outside the side.
On the part of the teachers, he assured that NUT, Akwa Ibom State wing is ready to partner with any group it is sure can deliver promptly on teachers’ acquisition of computer sets the latest in the market, appealing to the state government to include retired primary school teachers and next of kin of death teachers in the payment of gratuities up to date.
“NUT Akwa Ibom State wing is ready to reposition the Great Educators Cooperative Society into a viable, profit-oriented business venture and investment for the teachers of Akwa Ibom State.”
“The teacher must be a happy one. He must have job satisfaction. He must engage in research before teaching. He must have many colleagues and well trained enough so as not to be overworked. He must be ICT super-compliant, must be well funded and efficiently supervised to give of his best, and his products must be the well-rounded personalities that the new Nigerian National Policy on Education seeks the schools to produce”. He said
Addressing the teachers, Governor Udom Emmanuel said his administration has worked relentlessly to reposition the public education system and ensure motivation of teachers in the state.
“The importance of the teacher and education in the development of any nation or state is therefore a common knowledge to all of us. The realization of the very important role of education and teaching and the need for it to be made available for all, therefore raises the issue of funding, a very critical issue for the parents, trainers, learners and the government “.
“To sanitize the education sector and ensure quality of teaching and learning, the 1st batch of the 5000 teachers who succeeded during the screening exercise, 1,569 of them in the core science area including mathematics and English language have already been deployed to secondary schools”. He said
The Governor who was represented by the Head of Civil Service, Mrs. Ekerebong Akpan said to meet the international standard in staffing and teacher to student ratio; he has recently approved the recruitment of 3,000 teachers for the primary schools.
He charged the local education authorities to ensure that teachers’ postings are respected and adhered to, to ensure that quality teachers are also sent to the rural areas.
Highpoints of the event included presentation by physically challenged student from the Special Students Education Centre, Uyo, and goodwill messages from the NUT National President, Comrade Michael Olukoya; Commissioners for Education and that of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Pastor Paul Udofia and Mr. Udo Ekpenyong; Head of Civil Service, Mrs. Ekereobong Akpan; Honorary Special Adviser to the Governor on Labour Matters, Comrade Unyime Usoro; Executive Chairman of State Universal Basic Education Board, Prof Maria Ikorok, Mrs. Idongesit Etiebet, among others.
