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NUT Wants Teachers’ Retirement Age Raised To 65 Years

By John Akubo, Lokoja
30 August 2015   |   1:08 am
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in Kogi State is asking Governor Idris Wada to review service year of retirement for teachers upwards to 65 years to enable them give their best in the profession.
Ibrahim Idris, Governor of Kogi State

Ibrahim Idris, Governor of Kogi State

The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in Kogi State is asking Governor Idris Wada to review service year of retirement for teachers upwards to 65 years to enable them give their best in the profession.

The State chairman of NUT, Comrade Suleiman Abdullahi, made the call in Lokoja at a seminar organised by SUBEB with the theme, Restoring lost glory to public schools.

Abdullahi noted that the best brains in the teaching profession are wasting away due to early retirement from service, adding that there’s need for government to adjust retirement age of teachers, just as it did in the case of university lecturers and those in the judiciary. “In the University system, it was discovered long ago by Federal Government and it has been raised to 70years,” he said.

The chairman, who observed that most of the teachers retired are agile and well trained, urged the government to device a means within the State to keep them in service.

He expressed worries that unlike in the past where core professional teachers were employed to teach in schools, employments of teachers nowadays are done based on patronage thereby encouraging quackery.

He urged the State government to give adequate attention to the remuneration and welfare of teachers, especially payment of minimum wage, if it wants genuine restoration of the lost glory to public schools. “We can achieve a lot if the retirement age is pushed to 65 years, because at the moment, we are losing the best hands in this profession.

Those who joined the teaching job between1979/80 to1985 are those who are properly trained. The current problem is that employment into the teaching profession these days is by patronage.”

He alleged that politicians nowadays offer teaching jobs to those who assisted them to win election, irrespective of whether they can express themselves or be able to perform the job. “There is no amount of workshops or seminars that can ginger teachers to perform if there is no adequate remuneration and motivation for them.

We have well trained teachers in the state but until the issue of welfare is taken care, you cannot see effective results”, he said.

In collaboration with the NUT Chair, the chairman of the Association of Primary School Head Teachers of Nigeria (AOPSHON) Comrade Dominic Ondeku observed that, at the rate at which trained, active and productive teachers are retiring from service as a result of the 35 years service policy, is alarming. “This is having a negative effect on basic education in the State.

We are suggesting a review of the service year of retirement to chronological age of 65years.” Chairman of State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Nuhu Ahmed said the seminar is aimed at brainstorming and coming up with ideas that would move the education sector in the state forward. He also assured participants that government has set up a committee to effect minimum wage payments.

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