Teachers now to retire at 65, years of service moved from 35 to 40

Rotimi Fadeyi, Abuja

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Bill, 2021. It seeks to give legal backing to new measures by the federal government to enhance the teaching profession in the country.

At the council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, approved the bill to be sent to the National Assembly for consideration and approval.

If approved by the lawmakers, the retirement age of teachers would move from 60 years to 65 while the years of service would also move from 35 to 40.

Briefing State House Correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting, Minister of Education, Adamu Adam, said some highlights of the bill include the introduction of bursary award, special rural posting allowances and other measures to attract the best brains to the profession.

Adamu said, “all the promises the President made and all the approvals that he has given me will now begin to put into effect because this is a legal backing that is required for it. I want to assure teachers that this government will do to them what has never been done. This is the first biggest step.

READ ALSO: TRCN puts govs on alert over new teachers’ salary

“The intention is to attract the best brains to the teaching profession. For that, the President approved the reintroduction of bursary awards which I told you here last year, improving teacher quality, and funding teaching practice.

“From TETFUND, he approved an enhanced entry point for teachers. Then, he approved that there should be some special allowances that will allow teachers to be posted to places you can consider ‘hardship postings’, rural posting allowance, science teacher allowance, and of course we have Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) under us that has professionalized the profession.

“Those are the highlights which you already know. But this is the biggest stage now. We are getting legal backing for all these things.

The essence of the bill is to seek approval so that there is legal backing for the new retirement age of 65 years for teachers and the service period being extended to 40 years for teachers. This is the main issue while all other issues are ancillary to it”, the minister added.

Also at the briefing, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo disclosed that his ministry presented a memo for the award of contract for the upgrade of the electricity component of the Calabar Free Trade Zone Area.

According to him, the contract was initially awarded in 2018 to upgrade the electrical facility in the free trade zone area and it was not completed. So, we brought a memo and Council approved the sum of N1, 000, 484, 000 for the completion of the calabar free trade zone area.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, while also speaking at the briefing, said the council approved his memo for a treaty on plant genetic resource for food and agriculture.

According to him, the import of the treaty is for the advancement and enhancement of agricultural resource base of the member countries.

“Nigeria has signed the treaty for a long time but it is only today that the FEC approved the ratification. We will now become full member of this treaty and it will enhance training and research of our agricultural scientists, agricultural fractionists and so on and so forth.

In short, the entire treaty is meant to boost agricultural production in the country as it affects other countries, 167 of them”, Nanono said.