FEC approves bill increasing teachers retirement age to 65

The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved a new bill to increase teachers’ retirement age to 65 or after 40 years in service.

The approval was given at the FEC meeting in Abuja presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents in Abuja on Wednesday on the outcome of the meeting.

The bill, ‘Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Bill 2020’, among others, seeks to change the retirement age of teachers in the country from 60 to 65.

It also recommends a change in the years of service for teachers from 35 to 40 years.

Adamu said, “This memo that was approved for the Ministry of Education is a giant step towards what we set out to do last year, with the approval of some special packages for teachers by the President. So, at the meeting today, Council approved that a bill which will be called ‘Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Bill 2020’ be sent to the National Assembly for enactment into law so that all the promises made by the president and all the approvals he had given to me will now begin to be put into effect because this is the legal backing that is required for it.

“The essence of the bill actually is to give legal backing for the approval of a new retirement age of 65 for teachers and then the service period being extended to 40 years.”

He gave other components of the bill as the introduction of bursary awards; special rural posting allowances, and other measures to attract the best brains to the teaching profession.

“The intention is to attract the best brains to the teaching profession and for that, the President approved the reintroduction of bursary awards, improving teacher quality, funding teaching practice form TETFUND, enhanced entry point for teachers. The president also approved that there should be some special allowances, like rural posting allowance and science teachers’ allowance,” the minister added.