It is with a deep sense of honour and a great pleasure that I stand on behalf of the teachers of Nigeria to address this auspicious occasion of the 2024 World Teachers’ Day celebration. As we already know, 5th October was set aside by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1994 to recognize and honour teachers across the globe for the pivotal role they play in transforming humanity and society. Nigeria joined the international community in celebrating our great teachers in 1996, and we are grateful to God for the successful commemoration of the day in the last 28 years and the opportunity to gather here once again to mark this year’s edition of the World Teachers’ Day.
First and foremost, I wish to commend the administration of His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR for keeping faith with this annual global event and sustaining the President’s Teachers and Schools Excellence Award which is aimed at promoting hard-work and excellence among teachers. Let me extend the gratitude of the leadership and entire members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) to the Special Guest of Honour, top Government functionaries, members of Parliament, the leadership of Organized Labour, representatives of UNESCO, International Development Partners (IDPs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and other education stakeholders who have found it worthy to come and celebrate with the teachers of Nigeria.
I wish to specially appreciate the Honourable Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, OON, Honourable Minister of State for Education, Hon. (Dr.) Yusuf Tanko Sumunu, Chief Executives of Agencies and Parastatals as well as Directors of the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) who have consistently contributed to the successful observance of the World Teachers’ Day (WTD) every year. May I also appreciate the Nigeria Breweries Plc. for recognizing and rewarding exceptional teachers through the Maltina Teacher of the Year Award, and commend State Governors who identify with teachers on this historic day by actively participating in the annual event and honouring outstanding teachers with Awards and prizes in their respective States.
Theme of the World Teachers’ Day
The year’s World Teachers’ Day with the theme “Valuing teachers voices: Towards a new social contract for education” highlights the pivotal role that teachers play in shaping the future of education and the need to value their knowledge, voice and participation in decision-making processes in education. Education around the globe is in crisis; the rapidly changing world is faced with a number of emerging challenges such as climate change, technological expansion and digital divide, demographic changes, armed conflicts, natural disasters, pandemics and other emergencies. These developments have impacted the education landscape, leading to rising inequalities and crises of inequity and relevance. This situation calls for a new social contract for education which must be built on principles that assure the right to quality education throughout life, and strengthen education as a public endeavour and a public good (UNESCO, 2021).
These new challenges and new trends in education have placed a greater burden on teachers and expanded their roles. Essentially, teachers are required to build their capacities to help learners acquire new knowledge, skills, values and competencies they need to shape their lives, and to be relevant and useful players in today’s knowledge society. This year’s World Teachers’ Day therefore emphasizes the need to address the systematic challenges faced by teachers, to strengthen social dialogue, and to incorporate teachers’ perspectives into educational policy and decision-making processes. Teachers, indeed, need a greater voice in decision-making; they need more supportive environments and better working conditions to ensure educational advancement in order to meet the needs of society and the demands of the 21st century.
Go Public! Fund Education
Poor funding and inadequate investment in education constitute a major barrier to effective implementation of educational policies and programmes in Nigeria. Budgetary allocations to the sector over the years have remained a far cry from the internationally recommended benchmarks of at least 6 percent of GDP and/or at least 20 percent of the national budget. UNICEF (2022) stated that there are over 18 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, out of which 10 million are girls. This situation undermines efforts made towards ensuring inclusive, equitable quality education for all in line with SDG 4.
It is against this backdrop that the NUT recently launched the Go Public! Fund Education campaign, a global call spearheaded by Education International (EI) for adequate funding of education and the teaching profession. This year’s World Teachers’ Day, therefore, provides us the opportunity to re-echo our call on all tiers of government to invest adequately in education and the teaching profession to ensure provision of quality public education for all.
Shortage of Teachers in the School System
Teacher shortage is a major challenge confronting education systems around the world. UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2023) stated that 44 million additional teachers are needed worldwide to meet Universal Primary and Secondary Education in 2030, out of which 15 million are needed in sub-Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, UBEC (2024) survey indicated that there is a shortage of 194,876 teachers in public primary schools across the country. Reports from the field revealed an alarming man-power crisis where some primary schools in the country are barely manned by one or two teachers, leaving the pupils to suffer learning poverty with a bleak future ahead. The situation in Junior and Senior Secondary Schools, especially in rural communities, is neither encouraging.
In response to the acute shortage of teachers in education systems around the world, the United Nations High-Level Panel on the Teaching Profession, established as a follow-up to the UN Transforming Education Summit in 2022, made a number of recommendations, including making the teaching profession more attractive for younger generations, establishing professional teaching standards, providing opportunities for teachers’ voices in policy decisions, and creating National Commissions to tackle teacher shortages. The UN Panel noted that long term funding for well-qualified and well-supported teachers is an investment in the quality and sustainability of education systems, calling on nations to ensure that every learner has access to a professionally trained, qualified and well-supported teacher. The NUT hereby urge both national and sub-national governments to heed this global call to action and work with critical stakeholders to develop necessary legislative and policy frameworks towards ensuring effective implementation of the crucial recommendations of the UN Panel on the Teaching Profession.
Teachers’ Welfare
It would be recalled that the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari used the 2020 World Teachers’ Day to acknowledge the low status of teachers and announce the approval of some welfare packages for teachers with the aim of revitalizing and repositioning the education sector for greater service delivery in the country. These incentives include:
It is worrisome, however, to observe that four years after, most of the approvals have remained unimplemented. We hereby call on both Federal and State governments to ensure full implementation of the approved incentives in order to boost the morale of teachers in the discharge of their professional duties.
Security and safety challenges in Schools
The school system in Nigeria has over the years suffered severe setbacks due to security and safety challenges in the nation’s schools. Teachers, learners and other education support workers have been victims of attacks by terrorists, kidnappings by bandits, School-Related Gender-Based Violence, as well as natural disasters such as pandemics and floods. These security challenges have negatively affected teaching and learning in our school system. We are concerned in particular about the recent floods that ravaged some States in the North, such as Borno, Bauchi, Jigawa, Sokoto, Zamfara, among others. We empathize with the government and people of the affected States over the devastating effects of the floods on lives and properties, including schools. We wish to call on both Federal and State governments to put in place adequate measures to ensure safety and protection of lives and properties in our schools and school communities. This is one key way the nation can assure free and unhindered access to education as a fundamental right of all children and the youth in our nation.
Funding of Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) is greatly concerned about the decision of the Federal Government to discontinue funding of Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) among other regulatory agencies from 2024 budget of the government. While the NUT acknowledges the propriety in the commitment of the Federal Government to cut cost of governance in the country, we wish to draw the attention of government to the critical role TRCN plays in ensuring professionalism in teaching and delivery of quality education for all, and the need to continue the funding of TRCN from government budget as this will contribute positively to the Renewed Hope Agenda of the administration of His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR in repositioning the teaching profession and the education sector for the benefit of our children, the youth and the nation as a whole.
Local Government Autonomy and Funding of Primary Education
The NUT wishes to commend the Federal Government for efforts made towards granting full autonomy to Local Government Councils in the country. It is our belief that this would bring about the desired development to all nooks and crannies of the country. We are, however, constrained to restate our position that salaries of primary school teachers be deducted as first-line charge in order to ensure regular payment of the salaries.
It is also our view that considering the commitment of the international community, including Nigeria, to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all (SDG 4), we, as a nation, cannot afford to continue to tie primary education, the fate of teachers and the future of learners to Local Government Councils (LGCs) who often display lack of financial capacity and the will to manage the education sub-sector. It is on this premise that we wish to reiterate our call on government to review the unprogressive policy giving the responsibility for payment of teachers’ salaries to LGCs, and transfer the responsibility to State governments in line with the 2002 judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in the case, A.G. Federation v. A.G. Abia State and 35 others which stated that “in so far as primary education is concerned, a Local Government Council only participates with the State Government in its provision and maintenance. The function obviously remains with the State Government”.
Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers
The NUT remains grateful to the Federal Government and the National Assembly for the enactment of the Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022 which provides for retirement of teachers on attainment of 65 years of age or 40 years of service. We are pleased to note that 23 States, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the Federal Government have implemented the new retirement age for their teachers. May I use this opportunity to urge the remaining States to ensure the implementation of the Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers without further delay as this will not only provide the school system the opportunity to further benefit from the services of these experienced teachers but will also help to address the man-power needs occasioned by high rate of retirements without corresponding recruitment to fill the gaps.
Concerns of Unity School Teachers
The NUT appreciates the Federal Ministry of Education (FME) for the decision to recruit more teachers (Education officers) and disarticulate Junior and Secondary Schools. May we, however, draw the attention of the FME to the nonpayment of salary arrears to teachers whose services had been elongated in line with the Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022. The NUT is also worried about the non-declaration of vacancies and the resultant stagnation of teachers (Education officers) of directorate cadre who are teaching in our Unity Schools. It is our submission that these officers who chose to make teaching a career and are carrying out their professional duties in the classrooms need encouragement and should be allowed unhindered career progression and be promoted as and when due like their colleagues in the State Teaching Services. We also observe with dismay the interference of some officers of the Ministry with the right of teachers (Education officers) to belong to trade union of their choice. It is important to emphasize that the right to peaceful assembly and association is a fundamental human right and should be so respected and protected. We call on the Hon. Minister of Education to address these concerns of our Unity School teachers in the interest of job satisfaction, effective service delivery and quality learning outcomes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, let me use this remarkable occasion to commend the teachers of Nigeria for their courage, sacrifice, perseverance, resilience and commitment to their well-chosen career, even in the face of daunting challenges and odds against them in their day to day works. I congratulate you, our great educators, on your honour and your well-deserved recognition and celebration. I charge you all to continue to uphold the ideals of our noble profession and to keep the flag flying as the torchbearers, pathfinders, character moulders, change agents and nation builders. To all our distinguished guests, friends and well-wishers, I say thanks and God bless you all.
Happy celebration!
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