National President of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Audu Amba, has berated states owing primary school teachers despite the current harsh economic situation in the country.

To address the challenge, he called on the Federal Government, through a constitutional amendment, to make the first nine years of basic education a core responsibility of states instead of leaving primary school administration with local governments.

According to him, it is only when the funding of basic education is made a core constitutional responsibility of states that the toxic phenomenon of non-payment of primary school teachers would be addressed.

While lamenting the backlog of salaries and promotion arrears owed both federal and state educators, Amba insisted that teachers’ welfare must be prioritised in the policies and programmes of government at all levels,if the vision for the future of education in Nigeria would be meaningfully realised.

He underscored the vital role of teachers as change agents and the cornerstone of educational development in any progressive clime. NUT chairman, federal wing, Alex Okonta, lamented that teachers in Federal Government Colleges are owed accumulated arrears, and appealed to the government to ensure payment of these arrears without delay.

Okonta also demanded the establishment of the Federal Teaching Service Commission, saying this would remove the bottlenecks affecting promotion in unity schools.

He further called for the implementation of the new Teachers Salary Scale (TSS), approved in 2020 by the last administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, noting that the Federal Government had announced the new salary and other packages to boost the morale of teachers. (The Guardian)