Ogun teachers demand training, welfare

Teachers in Ogun State have demanded a better training package, saying that it will enable them to be abreast of modern trends in the profession.

The state Nigeria Union of Teachers Chairman, Mr. Dare Ilekoya, made the appeal at a recent teachers’ forum in Abeokuta.

According to him, an exposure to such training will further equip them with the latest techniques in teaching and learning.

He noted particularly that there was the need for short and long-term trainings for members of the profession.

Though the teachers used the occasion to organise health talk on preventive measures against Ebola Virus Disease, Ilekoya said it was high time the government reappraised the role of teachers and accorded them the required recognition.

He said, “On the part of the government, the Teachers’ Day provides an opportunity to appraise, review and re-assess its educational policies and programmes with a view to ensuring that educational needs of teachers and the entire citizens are met.

“We also demand the full implementation of 27.5 per cent Teachers Peculiar Allowance for both primary and secondary schools teachers as the governor has promised its full implementation this October.”

Ilekoya also appealed to Governor Ibikunle Amosun to look into the cases of degree holders teaching in primary and had been on Grade Level 14 for more than eight years.

He noted that their colleagues in such states as Kwara, Osun, Anambra, Enugu, Oyo, among others had risen to Grade Level 17.

He added, “While we appreciate the governor for his magnanimity in the appointment of teachers as principals/headmasters general. The union wishes to recall that there has not been any replacement for the four retired from service. For long, we learnt that some names had been shortlisted for their replacement and till date, nothing has happened.. We appeal to the governor to expedite action on this matter.”

Amosun, represented by the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Mr. Segun Odubela, canvassed a review of the cultural and religious burial processes among the people to address the challenges of checking the spread of Ebola Virus Disease.

He noted that the measure was necessary to reduce the risk of spreading EVD through infected corpses.

He said, “All these will make it less risky for people to contract the virus as long as we maintain basic rules of hygiene and review our cultural and religious beliefs on how we bury the dead as the risk of contracting the disease through infected corpses is higher.”

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