Teachers protest handing of primary schools to local govt councils

Primary School Teachers in Cross River state have protested against the autonomy of local government regarding the handing over of the management of primary schools to local government councils. The protest, which took place in Calabar on Tuesday, was to condemn the possible delay and inadequate payment of salary should the autonomy be granted.

The teachers, who protested under the aegis of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), however said they were not against the local government autonomy, but that their concern was about the likely scrapping of the State Joint Local Government Account.

The protesting teachers carried placards with inscriptions such as ‘Give us first line charge of salary payment’, ‘Shaky foundation, collapsed system – enough is enough’, ‘We say No to the dark era of non-payment of salaries,’ and ‘Save primary education from imminent collapse,’ among others.

Chairman of state NUT, Mr. Eyo-Nsa Itam, who led over the 300 teachers on the protest from the state secretariat through IBB Way to Marian Road and Mary Slessor Avenue, said primary school teachers were currently being owed salaries for several months due to the inability of councils to provide funds needed for the payments.

He said that it was unfortunate that public primary education had suffered untold neglect and underfunding without adequate motivation which is retrogressive to effective service delivery. Itam therefore called on the state government to take over the payments of primary school teachers salaries in order to prevent the education sub-sector from imminent collapse.

He said: “We wish to state here that the NUT is not totally against local government autonomy but the union is concerned about the likelihood of scrapping the State Joint Local Government Account which would mean taking primary education back to the dark pre-1994 era.

“Experience had shown that the local government councils neither have the financial capacity nor the political will to fund and manage primary schools in the country. Therefore, any attempt to handover primary education to LGAs amounts to consigning primary education to the abyss of total collapse.

“It is our belief that the state government has a duty to safeguard the right of every child to basic education and as such would not continue to rely on a misplaced and un-progressive policy that seemingly ascribes to LGs as exclusive responsibility for payment of salaries of primary school teachers, which is clearly not in tune with the current realities.”

The state NUT chairman said that it was their considered view that the global focus on Sustainable Development Goals and the affirmed commitment of nations, including Nigeria, would ensure inclusive and equitable education for its citizenry.