The Registrar/Chief Executive, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Prof. Segun Ajiboye, yesterday called on state governments in the country to key into the review of welfare packages for teachers set for implementation by the federal government soon.
He stated that this is important due to the fact that education is on the concurrent legislative list, and state government should be ready for smooth implementation at the state level.
Ajiboye, while speaking with journalists in Ibadan yesterday, said President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved a new salary scale among other welfare package for teachers being worked upon for implementation by the Federal Ministry of Education and Office of the Head of Service of the Federation.
The TRCN boss noted that when fully implemented at both federal and state levels, the best brains would be attracted to teaching while the experienced would be retained.
He stated that years of neglect of the welfare of teachers, who are charged with molding the leaders of the future, is being attended to by President Buhari to lay a solid education foundation for the Nigerian child and also boost the morale of professional teachers.
According to him, “Very recently, President Buhari approved some welfare packages for teachers. The approval cut across new salary structure for teachers, retirement age, some allowances, teaching practice allowances for both lecturers and pre-service teachers, bursary awards for education students, rural housing scheme for teachers among others.
“Presently, the Federal Ministry of Education and the Office of Head of Service of the Federation are working out details on implementation of the president approvals. While this is going on, it is incumbent on the states to be carried along for a smooth implementation at that level given the fact that education is on the concurrent legislative list.”
Ajiboye stated further that just as quality education is essential to the development of any nation, the welfare of teachers will motivate performance and impactful teaching.
“The issue of teachers’ welfare in our country has been downplayed over the years. Yes, we need police to control crime in our societies, but much more, we need the teachers to eradicate crime and criminality in our country. The teachers are the purveyors of quality education, and quality education is sine qua non to the development of nations,” he said.