Teachers in primary and secondary schools should be allowed to work till the age of 70, says Musa Abubakar, Kwara state chairman of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT).
Abubakar noted that all teachers are “bound by common destiny” and as such, “justice demands” that teachers at the primary and secondary school level should be given the same treatment as university professors.
The NUT leader made this known in Ilorin on Wednesday while addressing teachers during a ceremony to mark the world teachers day.
“The demand became imperative in view of the fact that, teachers suffer the same fate all over the world irrespective of their operation”, he said.
“The extension of retirement of age of professors in the tertiary institutions to 70 years be extended to teacher who constitute the foundation of education i.e primary and secondary education.
“It is obvious that vacuum created by the retired teachers in the state in recent time will be difficult to fill within the next decade.
“Teachers profession that should gather the best brain of nation to mould the character of our future leaders is seen as a stepping stone for greener pasture. It is a crypic but painful that the condition of teachers has not changed significantly with other profession.
“Education which remain the hope of the hopeless and the sure way to eradicate poverty and disease is jeaopardised. Education policies in the country do not reflect the aspiration of the people.
“As I speak, teachers in Kwara are owed five months salary and 56 per cent(i.e 15 per cent January, 25 per cent June, 8 per cent August and 8 per cent September) and this is no doubt has affected the quality of education in our public schools as the working condition of the teacher is the learning condition of the child.”
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