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Tag: NUT

  • NUT Strike: Parents beg union, council on speedy resolution

    NUT Strike: Parents beg union, council on speedy resolution

    Some parents in Kuje Area Council of FCT have called on the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Kuje Area Council to reach a workable resolution to enable primary school pupils resume classes in the area.

    The parents, who made the call in separate interviews in Kuje, said the strike was having a negative impact on the pupils and appealed for speedy resolution.

    Recall that the primary school teachers in Kuje had on Monday embarked on an indefinite strike over failure by the area council to meet some demands of the union.

    The union through its Chairman, Mr Audu Lucky, had listed the demands as: the non-payment of salaries to 2018 recruited teachers whose salaries were abruptly stopped by the council chairman in September 2022.

    ”Submission of the agreed template of payment of LEA teacher’s arrears to the JAAC Secretariat and continuation of the payment to concerned teachers.

    ”Payment of salary to 2022 reabsorbed teachers, who have been working through January to December 2022 without salary.”

    However, Mrs Sarah Luka, a parent at Chukuku community, called on both the union and the council chairman to convene and proffer adequate solution and help resolve the lingering teachers strike.

    “Our children in public primary schools are losing their most active and creative time, while children in other Area Councils have resumed school.

    “We make this call in the overriding interest of our children, but more particularly for the huge number of pupils in public schools in Kuje,” she said.

    Another parent at Paseli area, Mr Emmanuel Zaki, said: “Sadly, the children of wealthy people attend private schools or study abroad; they do not feel the distress and torment of the ordinary parents.

    “We also want to call for a law mandating State actors and their nuclear families to attend only public schools while in office.”

    Also, Mr Silas Lagi, a parent at Pegi area, feared that the strike would make children to shift focus to other things that they did not budget for.

    “My only pain is that the people in government are not feeling it because their own children are not in public schools but in private schools,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the statetement affirmed that the union had directed all primary school teachers to stay away from their duty posts while parents are advised to keep their children and wards safe at home.

    The Kuje Area Council is yet to react to the development, but it was gathered that the council would meet with the NUT leadership today (Jan. 13).

  • Kwara loses pioneer NUT chairman

    Kwara loses pioneer NUT chairman

    The remains of the pioneer chairman of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Kwara chapter, Sir Joseph Oyinloye, has been committed to mother earth in Esie, Irepodun Local Government Area of the state on Friday.

    Earlier in a church service in his honour at St. Michael Cathedral, Esie, the officiating Minister, Arch Bishop Isreal Amoo, admonished the congregants to live a life worthy of emulation.

    He said it is not Godly for anyone not to promote peace and tranquility wherever they found themselves.

    Amoo urged the people to love themselves and borrow from the did of  Oyinloye during his lifetime, described the deceased as a man of the people.

    He noted Oyinloye lived a fulfilled life that had tremendous impact on his immediate family, the church and society at large.

    One of the children of Oyinloye, Mrs Adesola Oyinloye-Ndu, described her late father as a disciplinarian, a loving and caring father, a friend and an educationist per excellent.

    The final funeral ceremony for late Oyinloye was attended by people from all walks of life, including traditional rulers led by the Olomu of Omu-Aran, Oba Abdulraheem Adeoti.

    Recall that the late pioneer Kwara NUT chairman died on July 29 at the age of 93. He is survived by children, grandchildren and great grand children.

  • LG workers’ strike: Enugu State Govt, NULGE, NUT trade blame

    LG workers’ strike: Enugu State Govt, NULGE, NUT trade blame

    The  Enugu Government, Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) have traded blame for the ongoing strike by workers in the local government councils of the state.

    Newsmen reports that local government workers, including public primary school teachers and Primary Health Care (PHC) workers in the state on July 27, began a strike over alleged non-implementation of the N30, 000 minimum wage.

    The strike was announced after a joint press conference by the leadership of the NUT and NULGE in the state.

    The Chairman of NUT in the state, Chief Theophilus Nweke, told newsmen that the action which has crippled the affected sectors was due to the government’s insincerity in the negotiation process.

    Nweke said that the ongoing strike was the second time in two months that public primary school teachers were embarking on such action over the same matter.

    ”The patience of the workers in those sectors is being overstretched as the government has not made any concrete commitment to pay the minimum wage and its consequential adjournments.

    ”It is sad that pupils in the public primary schools could not participate in terminal examinations that could determine their promotions to the next class as the academic calendar was disrupted by the strike.

    ”The situation is more worrisome as the health centres in both urban and rural areas has remained closed.

    “The government is aware of this strike but has not come up with any solution. We are not happy being on strike. So, government should look into it for industrial harmony,” he said.

    He said that government had made an attempt to cajole them into suspending the strike by approving the payment of the minimum wage for workers in Grade Levels 1 to 6 in the affected sectors.

    He, however, said that the labour unions would not fall for such bait as those that fell within such range were insignificant.

    Nweke said that out of the 24, 000 workers in the local government system, including primary school teachers, those in Grade Levels I to  VI were less than 2,000.

    Also speaking, the President of NULGE in the state, Mr Kenneth Ugwueze, said that it was unfair that the affected workers had been denied the minimum wage for 30 months.

    Ugwueze said that some workers in the affected sectors still earned as low as N18, 000 monthly.

    “This is the first time from the Old Anambra  that we are having salary disparity and some categories of workers paid differently for over two years.

    “You can imagine the impact it has on the rural populace. Immunization activities have been put on hold,” he said.

    Ugwueze said that the issue was no longer a question of meager financial allocations as the figures accruable to the various councils had improved tremendously.

    “We had a meeting with the fourth committee constituted by government to resolve the matter but they requested that we suspend the strike before they open negotiations with us.

    “However, it is on record that we have negotiated with previous committees for 30 months but nothing came out of it.

    “We are no longer able to feed our families considering the hyper inflation in the country,” Ugwueze said.

    When contacted, the Chairman of the Local Government Service Commission, Enugu State, Prof. Osy Okanya, said that government was serious about resolving the lingering strike.

    ”50 per cent of the problem has been settled.

    ”The state government planned to begin payment of the minimum wage in those sectors by August but for the actions of the union leaders.

    “Government made it clear that implementation of the minimum wage in those sectors will start immediately for those in Grade Levels I to VI while we work out the consequential adjustments for Grade Levels 7 to 16,” he said.

    Okanya said that government has convened a meeting with the labour leaders to work out the consequential adjustments without knowing that the unions had the intention of going on strike.

    “There is willingness on the part of government to pay and we need some patience.

    “While we are calling the unions back to the negotiating table, we are also making informal moves to find a middle ground in order to get it done quickly,” Okanya said.

  • Enugu State Govt set to resolve teachers’ strike – Commissioner

    Enugu State Govt set to resolve teachers’ strike – Commissioner

    The Enugu State Government is putting final modalities in place to resolve issues raised by striking primary school teachers.

    The state Commissioner for Education, Prof. Uchenna Eze, told newsmen on Friday in Enugu that ongoing negotiation between government and Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) had been “fruitful and progressive”.

    Thenewsguru.com reports that the NUT embarked on an indefinite strike over the non-payment of N30,000 minimum wage by the state government.

    ”The state government has already begun the process of implementing the new wage for primary school teachers.

    ”The leadership of the union is participating in an ongoing negotiation to that effect which is at its final stages,” he said.

    The commissioner said that the ministry was so surprised to hear of the ongoing indefinite strike even as the state and the union have a robust cordial relationship.

    ”It is impatience on the part of the primary school teachers to embark on the strike when we were making serious progress. We are at the final stage of concluding on the ongoing negotiations.

    “The ministry and the union will definitely resolve the issue very soon and our children will get back to school to resume the third term academic activities,” he said.

    The commissioner assured parents and guardians that the state government would resolve to settle the matter very soon.

    Thenewsguru.com reports that the state government had in an originating summons with number NICN/EN/01/2022, against the NUT, asking the court to bar the teachers from embarking on any strike on the ground that they were essential workers.

    The government, however, lost the suit, as the NIC ruled that the teachers could go on strike as they were not “essential duty workers,” as alleged by the government.

    However, dismissing the suit, the NIC accused the state government of discriminating against primary school teachers.

    The NIC presided over by Justice Oluwakayode Arowosegbe, had in an interlocutory injunction restrained the teachers from embarking on any form of industrial action pending the determination of the substantive suit and ordered an accelerated hearing.

    Delivering its judgment in the suit, Justice Arowosegbe, dismissed the suit and ordered the Government of Enugu State to go back and negotiate with the teachers, describing it as discriminatory for the Claimant to pay some workers in the state the minimum wage, from February 2020, while refusing to pay the teachers same.

    The Judge noted that the state could not stop the teachers from ventilating their grievances through industrial action.

    The court in the judgment delivered on March 8, held that the Primary School teachers in Enugu State do not fall within the categories of workers who provide essential services, hence they can embark on strike and other lawful means to press home their demand.

  • NUT lauds FG on retirement age, says teachers now fully motivated

    NUT lauds FG on retirement age, says teachers now fully motivated

    The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has commended the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the harmonised retirement age of teachers’ bill into law.
    The NUT made the commendation in a letter of appreciation to Mr Sonny Echono, Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
    The letter was signed by NUT’s Secretary-General, Dr Mike Ene, and made available to newsmen in Abuja on Saturday.
    The union said that the move would impact positively in the nation’s teaching profession, and lauded Echono’s efforts in the emergence of the Act during his stint as Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education.
    The letter dated April 13, said that the move would motivate teachers to deliver more effective service in the classroom.
    “It is great that teachers of pre-primary, primary and secondary schools enjoy the extended service years and higher retirement age like their counterparts at the tertiary level.
    “We are also confident that this great milestone will have an enormous turnaround in the Nigerian education system.
    “The impact of this Act will raise the bars of primary and secondary school education through the additional five years of mentorship by the senior and experienced teachers on the junior teachers in the primary and secondary schools,” the letter said.
    The new law extends teachers’ retirement age from 60 to 65, while the service period has been moved from 35 to 40 years.
  • NUT backs sacking of Kaduna State ‘fake’ teachers if…

    NUT backs sacking of Kaduna State ‘fake’ teachers if…

    The Kaduna State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) on Thursday backed the state government’s decision to sack 233 teachers alleged to have been working with fake certificates.

    The Chairman, Mr Ibrahim Dalhatu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna that the union would not defend any teacher with fake certificates.

    “As far as NUT is concerned, we will not defend them if the allegation of tendering fake certificates is true.

    “We have instructed the affected teachers that if any of them have a genuine certificate and his or her name is on the list, they should submit the certificate to us.

    “We will follow up with Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to rectify the issue,’’ he said.

    On the competency test for public primary school teachers, the NUT chairman said that the union’s decision not to participate in the test had not changed.

    According to him, only the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria has the mandate to test and certify a professional teacher and not any state government agency.

    “We will not go for any test. If the Kaduna SUBEB wants to assess the performance of our members, it should follow them to the class and assess them while they are teaching pupils,’’ he said.

    The NUT National Executive Council had on Nov. 18 directed its members in Kaduna State not to participate in the competency test organised by the state government.

    The Deputy National President of the union, Mr Kelvin Nwankwo, who gave the directive, insisted that teachers’ competence had been proved by various accredited universities and colleges of education.

    He stressed that the teachers were also tested before they were hired.

    According to him, the NUT affirms and relies on the provisions of Section 1(d) of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) Act 2004, which made provisions for the regulation and control of the teaching profession.

    “As teachers who belong to a professional body, registered and licensed, we shall only subject ourselves to any professional recommendation issued by our Regulatory Council, and to no other body,’’ Nwankwo said.

    NAN reports that the list of the affected teachers provided by the Kaduna SUBEB shows that 210 out of the 233 affected teachers claimed to have obtained their certificates at the National Teachers Institute, Kaduna.

    Kaduna SUBEB’s Executive Chairman, Mr Tijjani Abdullahi, had announced earlier on Thursday that the board would sack 233 primary school teachers for allegedly presenting fake certificates.

    Abdullahi said the board would forward the files of affected teachers to the Ministry of Justice for prosecution.

    The SUBEB boss also disclosed that the board would conduct competency test for primary school teachers as part of continued assessment of their capacity to ensure quality teaching.

  • Nigeria @61: How mass examination malpractice started in 1970

    Nigeria @61: How mass examination malpractice started in 1970

    The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has lamented the menace of examination malpractice in Nigeria, tracing its roots to the mass examination malpractice that happened in the year 1970.

    Dr Mike Ike-Ene, Secretary General of NUT, who traced examination malpractice way back to the 1970s, said the menace has deteriorated to sex for marks in the education system.

    He said that as Nigeria marked its 61st Anniversary, it was important to x-ray the education sector and the challenges bedevilling it.

    He decried that the examination malpractice witnessed during West African Examinations Council (WAEC) examination in 1970, seemingly opened the way for all forms of ill practices in the sector.

    According to him, beyond malpractice, there were growing cases of bribery, intimidation, sex for marks among other things, saying all had contributed in no small measure to the fall in standard of education.

    He said that there was no doubt that several education policies had evolved since independence to help reposition the education sector.

    He also noted that progress had been made in the number of schools ranging from primary to tertiary institutions over the years among other things.

    He, however, lamented that these factors had not significantly translated into improved quality of education in the country.

    “Talking about how we have fared over the last 61 years, I want to say 61 years is not 61 days and by our law, anybody who is 60 years old in public service, by today is retired.

    “So, from the time we got independence, if it is life, we have reached our peak and we are now returning.

    “Meanwhile, measuring Nigeria’s growth in the education sector using global indices, we are not yet there but we are moving.

    “There is a problem and that is the deteriorating school standard across the country,” he said.

    According to him, the trend became noticeable immediately after the Nigeria civil war, where people were automatically promoted to class five and few months after they were asked to sit for WAEC.

    “These are people who came back from war and had little or no time to prepare for examination.

    “What they did was to enter examination halls with “expos” and the teachers were afraid of them because they were bigger than them, most of the men had grown beards.

    “So, that was the recorded beginning of mass examination malpractice and it was called “expo 1970”.

    “From then education standard began to fall,” he said.

    Ike-Ene further lamented that, “in fact parents began to learn how to pay money for their wards and teachers began to receive money from their students to look the other way.

    “People began to learn how to import people, called machineries and from that point we grew to the point where we have sex for marks.

    “Today, somebody can gain admission without opening his or books and the person will come out with a 2.1.

    “This has contributed greatly to the level of unemployment we have today because a lot of our graduates are unemployable.

    “If you ask such people to write a page of 100 words, you will find 80 words wrong, so how do you employ such a person,” he said.

    He noted that another critical factor affecting the growth of education in the country was poor budgetary allocation poor teachers welfare, cultism among others.

    The secretary general stressed that while Nigeria’s education system had left “the point of crawling, a lot needs to be done.

    “In terms of SDG -30, we are far behind and talk about first nine years of primary school, how many states are practicing the Universal Basic Education?”.

    While attesting to the fact that several government policies had evolved since independence to help reposition the education sector as well as significant increase in the number of schools, not much progress had been made.

    He called for concerted effort to restore the education standard.

    The secretary general pointed out that the best gift anyone could give was education, adding that countries like UK, Singapore and Finland had education on their priority list.

    He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his effort in that regard, particularly with regard to the welfare of teachers.

    Ike-Ene called on various stakeholders in the sector to work with government to make the sector globally competitive.

  • NUT threatens to stop teaching if govt fails to curb insecurity in North

    The Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), has threatened to stop teaching if the spate of violence in schools especially in the North were not stopped.

    It would be recalled that in the last six months, students and teachers have been kidnapped from schools in Katsina, Niger, Zamfara and Kaduna states, all in the North West.

    Speaking with journalists, Secretary General of the NUT, Dr. Mike Ene, who decried the failure of government at all levels to prioritise education, said the neglect of education might be because it was on the concurrent list, adding that if it weren’t, the Safe School Initiative (SSI), which was launched in 2014, ought to have been put in place to ensure teachers safety.

    He expressed shock over the seemingly confusion and inability of government and security agencies to address the degenerating insecurity in the country. He said: “It is one too many; they kidnap today.

    In the next 48 hours, they kidnap again and if security operatives rush there, they go to another location and kidnap. People are asking who is playing the Ostrich?

    “Is it because the government does not know what to do, they can’t plan their strategies or that those who know that security is the business of everybody don’t want to talk because in every community or kindred, they know each other. So, when there is a foreign party, somebody should say something. “NUT is highly worried.

    We started crying that schools have become soft targets when it was with Chibok but right now, it has become a daily occurrence where they take away the pupils and the teachers.”

    The NUT scribe further tackled state governors for not making judicious use of security votes, especially in the North where a sect seemed to have declared war on western education.

    He continued: “I wonder what they are looking for by kidnapping teachers. Is it that the kidnappers do not want western education to go on in this country again or it is now the business where the rich is sponsoring the poor to risk their lives to go and kidnap, so that when they come to an agreed place they keep them. “We talk about security votes. What is this security vote?

    How much is it and how are they using it? Do they use it to set up vigilante here and there or to bring securities that can come and kill security in the school? “For instance, land is not a problem in the north.

    So, you can find a school sitting on one hectare of land but you will find only two unarmed security men, probably one in the morning and the second at night. They just ask a few questions and allow people in. “That is not security.

    The kind of security we are referring to is a combination of all uniformed men including the ones hired by the state government locally, fully armed and placed in strategic places and they raise an alarm once they find any suspicious movement.

    “I am sure the weaponry we have and the fine training of our military and other security is far better than what these so called bandits have. So, it’s a question of the way of gathering information and how we interpret it, so we can flush out these people.

    “Therefore, the issue of kidnapping teachers is highly worrisome and we are saying if it continues, we will review our position and ask our employees to assure us. “It is highly condemnable. We all frown at it and we are engaging the governors in affected states to intensify security in our schools.”

    With 10,193,918 OSC children, Nigeria has the highest number of children not in school globally, and most recently, experts have said an additional three million children have been added to the number due to insecurity and the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • NUT tells Edo teachers to shun govt.’s pension scheme

    NUT tells Edo teachers to shun govt.’s pension scheme

    The Edo chapter of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has directed its members to shun enrollment into the state government’s contributory pension scheme.

    The directive is contained in a statement issued by the Assistant General Secretary of the union, Mr Moni Itua and made available to newsmen on Sunday in Benin.

    Itua said that the decision was a follow-up to the resolution of the State Wing Executive Council (SWEC) of the union at its last meeting held on Dec. 29, 2020.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the union had, on Dec. 29, 2020, issued a 21-day ultimatum to the state government over alleged failure to meet its 10-point demand, bordering on poor conditions of service, among others.

    Itua said: “I have been directed to inform all school heads and primary school teachers not to fill any document having to do with contributory pension scheme, no matter the source of such document, until the union directs otherwise.

    “The above directive became inevitable because the two fundamental issues raised by the union concerning the pension scheme have not received government’s positive response,” he said.

    According to Itua, the fundamental issues yet to be resolved include the tier of government that will be responsible for the monthly remittance of 10 percent to the pension accounts of individual teachers, particularly those at the primary school level.

    Also, the NUT wants the state government to cater for the accrued gratuity entitlements of teachers, prior to the commencement of the scheme, as provided by law.

    Itua said that the directive to the teachers not to fill any pension document had become inevitable as a result of the failure of the state government to address the two issues regarding the scheme.

  • Katsina abduction: Teachers threaten nationwide strike

    Katsina abduction: Teachers threaten nationwide strike

    The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has threatened to embark on a nationwide strike pending when the safety of its members to teach and guide pupils without fear of abduction is guaranteed.

    The union said this while reacting to the abduction of their members and over 300 students of the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State.

    According to the strike notice issued in a statement released on Tuesday, December 15 by the Secretary-General of NUT, Dr. Mike Ene, he said NUT may be compelled to down tools, and go on a nationwide strike if the Federal Government does nothing to ensure the security around schools across the country.

    The statement in part reads;

    “The wicked and merciless hands of anti-education terrorists clinched Mr. Alu Ola Paul a Headteacher with Olagua Primary School Ohordua in Edo State and Kidnapped him on his way to work on December 1, 2020, and released six days later.

    “In the same view on December 8 2020, Mrs. Gladys Niemogha Belleh and Mrs. Blessing Emunefe both of whom are teachers of Ohorhe Secondary School, Effurun in Delta State were kidnapped in their school premises by armed bandits and are yet to be released, thereby throwing both families, students, and the school community into emotional and overall destabilization.

    READ ALSO Fulani bandits kidnapped 333 Kankara students: Resident
    “Similarly, the night of Friday December 11 2020 Government Science Secondary School Kankara in Katsina State, was invaded by armed bandits with reports that 333 students are yet to be accounted for as at today, this dastardly act has sent shivers through the spine of other members of the entire school community of Katsina state.

    “In light of these recent developments, the NUT may be compelled to down tools, pending when it is safe for our members to teach and guide our pupils and students without fear of abduction by these faceless enemies of educational prosperity of the Nigerian nation.

    “The NUT herewith extend our appeal to all stakeholders to join hands with the government and security agencies to provide adequate protection for the students, pupils, teachers and the school communities, to ensure that educational activities are not hampered by enemies of the nations educational system using schools as soft targets.

    “In order not to escalate the disruption of our academic calendar which is in a fragile state as a result of COVID–19 pandemic, NUT unequivocally calls on the Federal, States and Local government to ensure adequate security and 24-hour surveillance around our schools.

    READ ALSO 333 Kankara schoolboys likely kidnapped, largest abduction ever
    “Also, the government must begin to consider the implementation of Life Insurance and Hazard Allowance to teachers in our Basic and Senior Secondary Schools as approved by His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR on the occasion of the World Teachers’ Day 2020.

    “Our prayers are with families of the abducted teachers and students as we hold unto government on their promise to ensure their safe release to be reunited with family members and relatives without further delay.

    “These incidences are sad reminders of previous ugly events in Chibok and Dapchi, where Boko Haram terrorist had attacked and abducted students creating a monumental disruption of school activities and impeding our nations educational growth and advancement while subjecting family members and relatives to unimaginable trauma.

    “The recent condemnable events of Bandits attack on schools, if not immediately addressed will largely affect the 2019/2020 academic calender which has already been disrupted by the six-month-long lockdown caused by the COVID–19 pandemic.

    READ ALSO UNICEF demands unconditional release of abducted students
    “As a union, the NUT will not fold her hands and watch enemies of educational development to threaten the nation’s educational system to suffocation. As such, we wish to remind our government at all levels, of their primary responsibility as enshrined in the constitution which is the security of lives and property of the entire Nigerian citizens.

    “The NUT make bold to demand that government must rise to these challenges and take up its responsibility to guarantee and execute this general principle and commitment of providing adequate security to all our educational institutions and the nation at large.

    “Unfortunately, it is becoming apparent that the government cannot provide security and safety of our teachers, students and the educational community across Nigeria. This unfortunate situation must be addressed without further contemplation.”