The Muslim Rights Concern has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for approving new national teaching policy.
The new policy raised the retirement age and service from 60 years to 65 years and from 35 years to 40 years respectively; established a special salary scale; provided rural allowance; increased science allowance; promised automatic admission and free tuition for children of teachers in their places of work; automatic recruitment for education graduates, etc.
The group’s director, Prof Ishaq Akintola, in a statement issued in Lagos on Monday thanked Buhari for putting smiles on the faces of teachers in the country.
”The development as a significant milestone in the history of education in Nigeria. Nigerian teachers have never had it so good. President Buhari has raised their level with the new teaching policy.
“The brain drain syndrome which Nigeria has been experiencing in the education sector is most likely to come to a halt or reduce drastically
“With the Buhari initiative, Nigeria is gradually moving close to global best practices in the welfare of teachers,” he said.
He, therefore, called on teachers around the country to prove their mettle through improved performance, dedication and high level professionalism.
“To whom much is given, much is expected. Our teachers must allow the federal government’s kind gesture to reflect in Buhari’s latest intervention will bring the desired improvement in the shortest time possible,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Buhari also approved the building of low-cost houses for teachers in rural areas and the sponsorship of teachers just as he assured of prompt payment of salaries and timely promotion to eliminate stagnation.
This is in addition to the Teachers Conversion Programme (TCP) and ICT training to mitigate the current dearth of qualified teachers in the school system, he said.
“Teachers have the power to shape and reshape the lives of young people and help learners to enhance their potentials. Only great teachers can produce excellent people and students that will make the future of our country great,” Buhari said.
He noted that “positive or negative influence of teachers on any child will have an effect on that child,” adding that “the future of this country will be a function of quality education delivered to our children today and this depends on the quality of our teachers and the quality of our teachers depend on the motivation”.
