Buhari okays special salary for teachers, increases service period

New dawn is here for teachers as President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a special salary scale for them to mark the 2020 edition of the World Teachers Day.

Teachers across the country also get extension of teaching period with the President announcing an increase in their number of years of service from 35 to 40 and age of retirement from 60 to 65.

These incentives were announced in Abuja on Monday during a ceremony to commemorate the teachers’ day held under the theme ‘Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future’.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who represented President Buhari at the event, said the new salary scheme was meant to appreciate the worth of the teachers and encourage them to deliver improved service.

He said, “Only great teachers can produce excellent people and students that will make the future of our country great. A positive or negative influence of a teacher on any child will have an effect on that child. Therefore, the Federal Government is ensuring quality education to access.”

Buhari said his administration had resolved to give priority to quality education of teachers and ensure their continued development.

“In order to attract investment in the teaching profession, the quality of the introduction of bursary award has been restored,” he said.

According to him, the special pension scheme as well as the new teachers’ retirement would enable the teaching profession to retain its experienced talents.

He said the new incentives would include the provisions for rural posting allowance, science teachers allowance and peculiar allowance.

The package also involve building low-cost housing for teachers in rural areas; sponsorship to at least one refresher training per annum to benchmark best practices for improved teaching and learning.

“Expansion of the annual Presidential Teachers and Schools Awards to cover more categories and for the outstanding,” he said.

Buhari said he had approved the reintroduction of bursary award to education students in universities and colleges of education with the assurance of automatic employment upon graduation.

“The payment of stipends to Bachelor of Education students as well as granting them automatic employment after graduation is now a government policy,” he said.

Meanwhile, a teacher from Amoye Grammar School, Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State, Asubiojo Henry Olaoluwa, has emerged the best public secondary school teacher in Nigeria in the 2020 President’s Teachers and Schools Excellence Award.

Aliyu Alhasan from IPDI, Minna, and St. Joseph CRS School, Iboko Offot, Uyo, emerged first and second runners-up, respectively.

Istifanus Caroline, a teacher from ECWA. L. Crawford, Kaltungo, Gombe State, was declared the best private junior school teacher.

Olaoluwa and Caroline were presented with brand new cars, in addition to award certificates in Abuja at the event to mark the 2020 World Teachers Day Abuja.