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Tag: Teachers

  • Teachers sacked by terrorist in North-East back to classrooms – TRCN

    The Registrar, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Professor Segun Ajiboye Ajiboye has disclosed that some of the school teachers who were sacked by terrorists in the north-eastern part of the country are back to classroom.

    He said that the Council had commenced the process of bringing back to the classrooms, teachers who have deserted the northeast zone due to terrorism attacks.

    Speaking with newsmen in Ibadan, he said that the plan was to re-motivate and change the psyche of the traumatised teachers to return to school.

    According to him, some of the teachers lost their certificates to terrorism but have been restored by the intervention of the Council.

    The TRCN boss disclosed that bringing back the teachers would improve knowledge impartation on students in North-eastern part of the country.

    “Actually it is disheartening we are affected we can’t pretend. We have lost so many teachers to insecurity especially in the northeast. It created trauma. Pupils left the schools. They don’t want to come.

    “The teachers themselves left because of what has happened to their colleagues. What we are doing is to bring back our teachers especially in the northeast. A lot of interventions are going on to re-motivate the teachers and change their psyche.

    “So many of them left the teaching profession they don’t want to come back but now sanity is returning and our teachers are coming back. Some of them lost their certificates to insurgency”, he said.

    On the deadline to register as professional teacher, Ajiboye disclosed that full enforcement against unregistered and unlicensed teachers would begin in January 2020, adding that any teacher not registered by the Council by December 31, 2019 will not be allowed to practice anymore in Nigeria.

    He said letter of reminder was being written to Commissioners of Education and the Education Secretary in Federal Capital Territory on the need to ensure that practising teachers in their states get valid license before the deadline.

    “That deadline stands. In fact the Minister of Education has directed that TRCN should do a letter to Commissioners of Education and Education secretary in the FCT to remind them about the deadline. By December 2019 anyone not registered and licensed by TRCN may not allowed in our classrooms. by January 2020 enforcement will begin”, he declared.

  • Buhari govt to increase teachers’ retirement age from 60 to 65

    President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his government was in support of increasing the retirement age for teachers from 60 to 65 years.

    Speaking through the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on Thursday, Buhari said Nigerian teachers to some extent required a reasonable retirement age like their counterparts in India, Canada, Belgium.

    The Minister said this at a public hearing on the need to separate teachers retirement age from that of public servants.

    The hearing was organised by the House Joint Committee on Basic Education and Public Service.

    He said, “Nigerian teachers to some extent require a reasonable retirement age like their counterparts in India, Canada, Belgium that have increased the retirement age for teachers to 65 years.

    “We are appealing to the House to approve the bill because the ministry is in support of increasing the retirement age of teachers,” he said.

  • 2019: Disengaged teachers declare support for Sen. Sani

    Some disengaged teachers in Kaduna State have declared support for the re-election of Sen. Shehu Sani (PRP-Kaduna) in the 2019 election.

    The teachers, who made this known when a delegation paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja on Wednesday, promised to rally support for the lawmaker in view of his support for their plight.

    Mrs Alice Ayuba, the leaders of the delegation, said they would ensure that Sani was returned as senator in 2019 through their votes.

    “We are here to appreciate our distinguished senator for his support from the beginning of our predicament.

    “He stood by us even when some of our teachers were arrested and imprisoned over the matter. So, we will stand by him. This is the time for payback for his strong support,” she said.

    Responding, Sani appreciated the disengaged teachers for their support.

    While expressing concern over the disengagement, the lawmaker promised to continue to support them where necessary, to ensure that they were reinstated.

    He said: “It is unbelievable that many of you have spent decades teaching our young ones that have performed credibly well in the state and nationally and today you are adjudged incompetent.

    “The process used to remove you was illegal. Consultants were asked to organise an exam and within 24 hours, thousands of teachers were disengaged for not passing exam. It is a condemnable act.

    “I solidly stand by you and your struggle. Continue in your struggle. If you are not returned now, a time will come that you will be returned,” he said.

    Sani, who is the Chairman Senate Committee on Foreign and Local Debts, lamented that some of the disengaged teachers were degree holders.

    “Serious damage has been done to education in the state and it is worrisome.

    “It is unimaginable that teachers with first degree, master’s degree and even doctorate degree will be said not to be qualified to serve.

    “How can bad teachers give birth to good students,” he said.

  • U.S. Consulate supports Robotics workshop for 303 teachers, 187 students [Photos]

    For the second consecutive year, the United States Consulate General in collaboration with RoboRave International, a U.S.-based tech academy, has concluded a week-long robotics workshop for 303 teachers and 187 students.

    The participating students and teachers were from 29 public and private schools across Lagos, Ogun, and Edo states as well as the Federal Capital Territory.

    RoboRAVE International Director of Global Programs Russ Fisher-Ives and RoboRAVE North America Director Brian Montoya facilitated the series of workshops in Benin, Lagos, and Abuja from October 21-27.

    Throughout the training, students were taught the basics of programming a robot to perform various tasks while teachers learned various aspects of implementing an integrated approach to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education.

    Speaking at the grand finale of the workshop held at the Zone Tech Park in Gbagada, Lagos, U.S. Consulate Public Affairs Officer, Mr. Russell Brooks, explained that the workshop was designed to stimulate the interest of the participating students in math and science, as well as careers in the STEM fields.

    Mr. Brooks discussed the importance of STEM education to Nigeria’s future prosperity and economic competitiveness. According to him, developing robotics skills can place students on a track to future careers in computer science and artificial intelligence.

    “The U.S. Mission in Nigeria is committed to supporting programs that provide youth with access to quality technological learning opportunities. We are also passionate about building teacher confidence and capabilities in the areas of robotics and STEM,” Brooks said.

    The robotics workshop supports the U.S. Mission’s goal of promoting STEM education in Nigeria as a driver of sustainable economic growth.

  • Fayemi signs Executive Order to stop education taxes, approves N200m loan for teachers

    The Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has signed an Executive Order banning various fees collected by some principals, headteachers and other school officials.
     
    He also approved N200m as car and housing loans for teachers in public schools in the state to boost their morale.
     
    The governor disclosed that the loans would be disbursed on or before November 15 adding that payment of arrears of salaries owed by the last administration would commence any moment from now.
     
    Speaking on Wednesday after signing the order Fayemi said it provided for free and compulsory education in government primary and secondary schools.
     
    The executive order, according to him, imposed stiffer sanctions and penalties for school principals and headteachers extorting pupils by collecting illegal fees.
     
    The governor stated that he signed the executive order because of reports that school heads were still collecting illegal fees after his proclamation last week banning education taxes.
     
    He added that some principals and headteachers were still extorting students under the pretext of collecting “voluntary donations.”
     
    Fayemi stressed that the executive order would prevent such illegality in schools, eliminate school dropouts and as well as encourage children enrollment.
     
    He urged parents to report any head of schools who asked their children for money to the Ministry of Education for necessary action.

  • FG to employ only qualified teachers — Minister

    Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, has said that a database of qualified unemployed teachers is being gathered nationwide to ensure such people are employed into the teaching profession.
    ‎
    Adamu disclosed this while monitoring the 2018 Batch B Teacher Professional Qualifying Examination in Abuja on Saturday.‎
    ‎
    ‎The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the no fewer than 17,000 would-be-teachers are expected to sit for the Computer-Based Teachers PQE nationwide scheduled to hold between October 19 and October 20.
    ‎
    Adamu, represented by Mr Sonny Echono, the Permanent Secretary, ‎reiterated that by December 2019 any teacher not qualified, registered and licensed with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria would be flushed out of the classrooms.
    “‎We have decided at the level of policy, henceforth, after December 2019, anybody that is not a qualified, registered and licensed teacher would not be accepted in the classroom. ‎
    ‎
    ‎”Let your colleagues know there will be no extension by 2019 because we are compiling a database of qualified teachers, ‎who are not employed.
    “It makes no sense for us as a country to have people, who are qualified out of job and we have unqualified people in those jobs.
    “We want to make sure that anybody who has this certification has a job, so we are going to ensure that is done first.”
    NAN

  • WTD: Nigerian teachers call for prompt salary payment, better welfare packages

    Some teachers across the country have called on government at all levels to ensure prompt payment of teachers’ salaries and provide them with better welfare packages.
    They made the call in separate interviews during the World Teachers Day celebration in Abuja on Friday.
    Some of the teachers said they derived joy from their profession as they watched their students become successful in life, however, their work must not go unrewarded.
    Mr Shuaibu Abdulrahman, a teacher and director, School Services, Federal Ministry of Education, said he loved the teaching profession and has no regret being a teacher.
    Abdulrahman, however, said the issue of teachers’ salaries could not be overlooked because of the vital role teachers play in the society.
    “It is possible for teachers to collect better salaries in Nigeria but this depends on our value system and government political will.
    “If we value the teacher most, then, they will be paid properly and timely, however, this lies in the hands of the government, and this would make best brains rush into the teaching profession.
    “Teachers are not being paid by anybody except God, so government should do something to help the teachers as it concerns our welfare.
    He also called on the government to provide adequate facilities in schools, adding that to achieve quality education students must learn in conducive environments.
    Similarly, Mrs Ifeoma Eze, a teacher with Federal Government Boys College School, Apo, FCT, appreciated the government for encouraging teachers through the Presidential Teachers award of excellence given to deserving teachers and schools.
    Eze, however said the government needed to do more in terms of prompt payment of teachers’ salaries.
    “ This present administration is trying for teacher, government has increased the awards given to teachers but they can do more by paying teacher as and when due.’’
    According to her, salaries of some newly recruited teachers have not been paid for up to ten months now because of the new system of capturing and regularisation introduced.
    Mr Oluwatofunmi Akano, Principal, Federal Government Girls College, Yola, said government needed to make teachers’ welfare a priority.
    Akano said that the special salary scale for teachers, which had lingered for a long time should be made realistic, so that teachers would be motivated to do more.
    “No teacher No nation; teachers are the ones that mold everyone to be who they are in different spheres of life.
    “The teacher should get more reward here, not only in heaven; the government should make teachers’ welfare a top priority.
    She commended the Federal Government for increasing the prize award this year to teachers.
    According to her, this year is better than last year’s event; just one car was given out last year, but this year government has given out two cars and a bus and other prizes.
    Also, Mr Titus Oluroguntayo, an official of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), said that teachers deserved better treatment and should be accorded the required respect.
    “We want the government at the federal, state and local government levels to treat our teachers with dignity and respect. Teachers should not be relegated to the background.
    “Teachers are the molders of future characters.
    “The government officials, the doctors, the lawyers, even those people who leave the shores of this country to look for greener pastures were all trained by teachers,” he said.
    The World Teachers’ Day is celebrated annually on Oct. 5, aimed at appreciating the efforts of teachers worldwide and deliberating on their challenges and way forward.
     
     

  • NUT wants FG to review teachers’ retirement age to 65 years

    The President, Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Dr Muhammed Idris, on Thursday advised the Federal Government to review retirement age of teachers to 65 years.
    Idris gave the advice at a news conference to mark the 2018 World Teachers’ Day in Abuja.
    According to Wikipaedia, the free encyclopaedia, the World Teachers’ Day, also known as International Teachers Day, is held annually on Oct. 5.
    It was established in 1994 to commemorate the signing of the 1966 UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, which is a standard-setting instrument that addresses the status and situations of teachers around the world.
    World Teachers’ Day aims to focus on “appreciating, assessing and improving the educators of the world” and to provide an opportunity to consider issues related to teachers and teaching.
    Theme of the celebration is: “The Right to Education means the Right to a Qualified Teacher.”
    Idris said that importance of the theme was to retain teachers, who had experiences in the profession and also to train upcoming ones.
    The NUT president also called for the reversal of retiring teachers annually without a commensurate recruitment to fill the vacant positions.
    He advised stakeholders in the sector to join hands with the union in demanding a professional salary structure for teachers and to make it more appealing to young Nigerians.
    “Young graduates of education discipline and prospective teachers have ignored teaching profession because of the kind of salary teachers were receiving.
    “The right to education will be vain, vague, a mirage and elusive, without the presence of an optimum number of qualified, well-remunerated and motivated teachers in the nations’ schools,” he said.
    Similarly, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Sonny Echono, pledged a continuous cooperation and partnership with NUT.
    “We are pleased to report that we have been working very hard in Nigeria. Teachers, as one body, have made valuable contributions to policy development in our society.
    “It is grounded on the fact that they were talking about huge deficit in the number of teachers.
    “ The argument is that the coalitions of this in the university system; professors are allowed to stay up to 70 years.
    “In other institutions, 65 years; but why are we limiting teachers in the secondary and primary to 60 years.
    “This is the policy issue that the ministry will take up. The ministry is, therefore, assuring that these policy instruments are intended to meet with the demands of the teaching profession,’’ Echono said.
    He said that one key factor in ensuring quality teaching and learning was the availability of quality welfare for teachers to attract the best brains and commitment to the sector.
    NAN

  • 30,000 teachers in New Zealand on strike demanding pay rise – Trade Union

    30,000 teachers in New Zealand on strike demanding pay rise – Trade Union

    New Zealand trade union says 30,000 primary and intermediate school
    teachers are taking part in a nationwide strike on Wednesday for the first time in more than 20 years to
    demand a pay rise.

    The strike was organised by the New Zealand Educational Institute, the largest education trade union
    in the country.

    “Today history was made as 30,000 teachers took to the street nationwide.

    “Thousands turned out at rallies and marches across the country to support primary teachers and principals!”
    the trade union wrote on Facebook.

    According to Radio New Zealand, the trade union insists on smaller class sizes and a 16-per cent pay spike
    over two years for primary school teachers and special education coordinators.

    The Education Ministry however, offereds gradual increases between 14 per cent for new teachers
    and six percent for their experienced colleagues.

    During the rally, the striking teachers voiced readiness to go on a two-day strike if they did not receive
    a better offer from the ministry, the media outlet reported.

    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addressed the crowd after the rally, calling on the teachers to cooperate
    with the government on the issue and noting that meaningful change would take time.

    New Zealand’s teachers walked off the job for the first time since 1994.

  • Ambode orders immediate recruitment of 1,000 teachers

    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State has announced the commencement of the recruitment of 1,000 teachers in the state.

    Ambode spoke at the state’s Third Quarter Town Hall Meeting, the 12th in the series, at the Community Primary School, Iberekodo in the Ibeju Lekki Local Government Area.

    The governor, who also directed that a physically-challenged resident and graduate of Computer Studies, Michael Ogunyemi, be employed from August 1, 2018, said, “more teachers will be recruited as the need arises.”

    He called on the Federal Government to revive the ports in other states of the federation in order to solve the perennial traffic congestion in the Apapa area of Lagos.

    He said beyond getting other ports up and running, the issue of tankers queuing up to lift petroleum products from tank farms in Apapa was also a major issue causing gridlock and damaging road infrastructure.

    “This issue has become perennial and in the last six years, it has always been there. It comes and goes, but the challenge is to be able to find a permanent solution. We believe strongly that every layer of government should collaborate to resolve this Apapa crisis,” he said.

    The governor also noted that oil pipelines should be revived to discourage the trend of thousands of trucks coming from other parts of the country to lift petroleum products from Apapa.

    “It is bad that we still use truck to lift petroleum products from Apapa to other parts of the country. As it is now, other ports in Nigeria must begin to work immediately to decongest gridlock in Lagos; what has led to the use of trucks to lift fuel, which is vandalism of pipelines, should be addressed immediately.

    “We believe that this will allow the roads to become free. We don’t need to continuously use taxpayers’ money to build roads that will be destroyed by tankers,” he said.

    The Governor also expressed concern about the approval for the development of tank farms in the Ijegun area of Lagos, saying tank farms should be located in areas that were not populated.

    “We don’t need tank farms within Lagos metropolis anymore. There are 68 tank farms in Apapa alone. Beyond Apapa, they have approved tank farms in Ijegun and that is where we have a huge population,” he said.

    Speaking on the efforts of his administration to develop the economy of the state, Ambode said his administration had continued to ensure that the future of Lagos remained on a sound pedestal.

    “Our promise from the beginning was that we are going to give you a government of inclusion and it’s very clear that we are on track. When we look at our scorecard, which is to keep Lagos on a trajectory of growth and development, we are on that track,” he said.

    Ambode also said the construction of the Epe Airport and reconstruction of the coastal road were on course, adding that the 27 network of roads in Ojokoro, Ayinke House, among other projects would be completed before the next quarter.