Governor Alex Otti with officials of NUT during the 2024 World Teachers Day celebration in Umuahia
We’re working to create conducive ecosystem for education in Abia – Otti
From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia
Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, has announced that 100 Public Schools currently being retrofitted would be ready for use across the state before the end of this year, saying that this was part of his administration’s agenda to create an ecosystem conducive for teaching and learning.
Other measures which the government has taken to achieve this goal, according to the Governor, include increasing the retirement age of teachers to 65 years or 40 years of Service.
Others are banishing of all forms of discriminatory practices in payment of salaries, regular payment of workers’ entitlements; as well as training of 2, 000 primary school teachers, a gesture would be extended to teachers in the secondary school system.
The Governor reeled out these steps which he said were also taken to make teaching attractive, while speaking during the 2024 World Teachers Day Celebration which had the theme: “Valuing Teachers’ Voices: Towards A New Social Contract For Education.”
He disclosed that his administration was putting modalities in place for the commencement of payment of the new minimum wage by the end of this month.
He said that the new minimum wage was in addition to the N15, 000 wage award already paid to Abia civil servants in the past 3 months.
Governor Otti, while explaining why his administration declared a state of emergency in the education sector on assumption of office, said: “Our administration understands the importance of education which explains why we prioritise it as one of the major pillars of our governance objectives.
“As the Chairman of NUT in the State said, we had since increased the retirement age of teachers in the State to 65 years or 40 years of service subject to health and willingness of individuals to remain in the field.
“We have effectively banished all forms of discrimination in the payment of workers’ salaries and allowances.”
“Today,” he continued, “teachers in primary and secondary schools across the State get their salaries at the same time their counterparts in the civil service are paid,” adding that he would consider students-teachers ratio in engaging more teachers in schools across the state.
As part of plans to make teaching more attractive, the Governor said his administration has retrained about 200, 000 teachers in the primary school while teachers in the secondary school will commence their retraining by November this year.
He added security has been beefed up in the schools following his directive to the Office of the Homeland Security to provide adequate security to public schools in the state for the safety of teachers, students and facilities already in place.
In his remarks, Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Elder Goodluck Ubochi, who also was the Chairman of the October 5, 2024, while congratulating Abia Teachers on this year’s event, said that the state government sees teachers as friends, role models, mentors, builders and character moulders which informed the extensive ongoing capacity building of teachers and massive infrastructural development across Public Schools for effective and efficient performance.
He noted that Governor Otti has prioritized teachers’ welfare and called on NUT to ensure that teachers reciprocate the Governor’s gesture by being alive to their responsibilities as the years of truancy were long over.
In his speech, the state Chairman of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Madu Chukwujekwu, said that the theme of this year’s event “Valuing Teachers’ Voices: Towards a New Social Contract For Education,” recognizes the critical role teachers play in the future of education, adding that government needs to empower teachers to take ownership of their profession, to share their expertise, and to drive innovation in education.
Comrade Chukwujekwu used the forum to list some achievements made in education sector by the present administration to include approval and full implementation of 65 years of age and 40years of service through Harmonized Teachers Retirement Act 2022, regular and prompt payment of monthly salaries to Teachers and all civil servants in the state among others, calling for the immediate recruitment of teachers to fill in vacancies in various Public Schools.
He also lauded Governor Otti for the training of teachers in capacity building especially making teachers ICT compliant and the peaceful conduct of the promotion exercises for teachers by various education boards in the State as well as the resuscitation of the scholarship programme with over 5000 Students benefitting recently.
The Highlight of the occasion was the appreciation of the first three best Head teachers in early school resumption for the 2024/2025 academic session by the Executive Chairman, Abia State Universal Education Board (ASUBEB), Mrs. Lydia Onuoha.
