Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti says his administration is putting modalities in place for the commencement of payment of the new minimum wage by the end of this month.
Governor Otti announced this on the occasion of the 2024 World Teachers Day Celebration with the Theme: “Valuing Teachers’ Voices: Towards A New Social Contract For Education”
He said that the new minimum wage is in addition to the 15,000 naira wage award already paid to Abia civil servants in the past 3 months.
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He said that his administration declared a state of emergency in the education sector and introduced new incentives including increase in the retirement age of teachers to 65years and 40 years in Service.
Governor Otti said that his Government, in addition, banished all forms of discriminatory practices in the payment of salaries and assured that regular payment of workers’ entitlements will continue to receive priority attention.
“Our administration understands the importance of education which explains why we prioritise it as one of the major pillars of our governance objectives.
“As the Chairman of NUT in the State said, we had since increased the retirement age of teachers in the State to 65 years or 40 years of service subject to health and willingness of individuals to remain in the field”.
“We have effectively banished all forms of discrimination in the payment of workers salaries and allowances” Governor Otti declared.
“Today, teachers in primary and secondary schools across the State get their salaries at the same time their counterparts in the civil service are paid.” Gov. Otti stated.
As part of plans to make teaching more attractive, the Governor said his administration has retrained about two thousand teachers in the primary school while teachers in the secondary school will commence their retraining by November this year.
The Governor announced that before the end of this year, 100 newly retrofitted Public Schools will be ready for use across the state, adding that he has directed the office of the Homeland Security to provide adequate security to public schools in the state for the safety of teachers, students and facilities already in place.
The Governor said that he is committed to creating an ecosystem conducive for teaching and learning, adding that he will consider Students-teachers ratio in engaging more teachers in schools across the state.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Occasion and Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Elder Goodluck Ubochi while congratulating Abia Teachers on this year’s event said that the State Government sees teachers as friends, role models, mentors, builders and character moulder which informed the extensive ongoing capacity building of teachers and massive infrastructural development across Public Schools for effective and efficient performance.
He noted that Governor Otti has prioritized teachers welfare, calling on NUT to ensure that teachers reciprocate the Governor’s gesture by being alive to their responsibilities as the years of truancy are long over.
In his speech, the state Chairman Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Madu Chukwujekwu said that the theme of this year’s event “Valuing Teachers’ Voices: Towards a New Social Contract For Education” recognizes the critical role teachers play in the future of education, adding that government needs to empower teachers to take ownership of their profession, to share their expertise, and to drive innovation in education.
Comrade Chukwujekwu used the forum to list some achievements made in education sector by the present administration to include approval and full implementation of 65 years of age and 40years of service through harmonized Teachers Retirement Act 2022, regular and prompt payment of monthly salaries to Teachers and all civil servants in the state among others, calling for the immediate recruitment of teachers to fill in vacancies in various Public Schools.
He also lauded Governor Otti for the training of teachers in capacity building especially making teachers ICT compliant and the peaceful conduct of the promotion exercises for teachers by various education boards in the State as well as the resucitation of the scholarship programme where over 5000 Students recently benefitted.
The Highlight of the occasion was the appreciation of the first 3 best Head teachers in early school resumption for the 2024/2025 academic session by the Executive Chairman, Abia State Universal Education Board (ASUBEB) Mrs. Lydia Onuoha.
