Regina Otokpa and Lawrence Olaoye 
President Bola Tinubu yesterday promised to ensure that teachers get their due reward. He said teachers are facing the challenges of overcrowded classrooms, scarce resources and limited opportunities for professional development because of the neglect of the teaching profession.
Tinubu, represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, made the promise during the 2023 World Teachers’ Day (WTD) celebration in Abuja. He said: “Our commitment to actualising our education reforms is to drive the emergence and sustenance of a system that recognises that education is the mother of new ideas and ground- breaking discoveries.
“With well-taught workforces, we are not only going to build a nation that thinks but one that lives in an interconnected world, a world where the exchange of knowledge and ideas knows no boundaries.
“Without motivated teachers, we can’t build a nation that fosters such international cooperation, builds bridges of understanding, and addresses global challenges such as climate change, poverty, and healthcare. So, education, to us, and I believe to you too, is not just a means to individual success; it is a path to global harmony and sustainable development.
“We are not just going to focus solely on technological advancements. The human aspect of education is just as critical as the infrastructure. Our teachers deserve to be treated with the respect and dignity they deserve. It is my promise that we will work tirelessly to build a society where the teacher’s reward begins to manifest here on earth.”
Tinubu said he had directed the Ministry of Education to collaborate with the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to comprehensively revise existing guidelines “to ensure that anyone seeking to benefit from this Act must be fully prepared to return to the classroom, equipped with the latest teaching techniques and skills, especially in the realm of information technology”.
He added: “I am pleased to share with you a significant policy initiative, the Harmonised Retirement Age of Teachers in Nigeria Act 2022, which allows our dedicated teachers to con- tinue their invaluable service for up to forty years or until reaching the age of sixty-five, whichever comes first. This measure is designed to retain the wealth of experience within our educational system and bolster the number of educators in our schools.”
The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, said there was a need for teachers and the gov- ernment to re-evaluate their respective approaches to the issues of welfare, recruitment and training. The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), President Titus Amba, urged the government to improve teachers’ access to training, digital tools and materials, and also called for adequate funding of the sector.
He said: “Inadequate funding and investment in education is one of the major barriers to functional quality public education in Nigeria. The budgetary allocation to education at the national level over the years has been observed to be a far cry from the international benchmarks of at least 4 to 6 percent of GDP and/ or at least 15 6 per cent to 20 6 percent of the national budget. The situation is not better in many states.”
