From Ahmad Mohammed Bauchi
Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) Bauchi state chapter has advised government and all that matters for the extension of teachers retirement age to 65 years in the state.
The State NUT Chairman, Comrade Danjuma Sale, made the appeal while briefing newsmen to mark the 2018 World Teachers Day in Bauchi on Friday.
He said the current 30 years in service and 60 years attainment age of retirement was no longer in fashion for teachers in primary and secondary schools in the country.
“They need 40 years in service and attainment of the age of 65 years of retirement many of us retired but not tired and their service is still needed,” he said.
He also alleged the discrimination against teachers, considering the recent extension of the retirement age of teachers in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education from 65 years to 70 years.
He said that doing the same with the primary and secondary schools would remove the segregation since they all belonged to the same teaching industry.
“The more years a teacher spends on the job, the better he delivers his service to the learners given the benefit of the experiences gathered over the years and the wisdom of age.
“The older the teacher, the more caring and tolerant he is to the students with improved dexterity in the pedagogy of teaching required over time.
“It is for this and other similar reasons that the retirement age of lecturers and professors in the tertiary institution was extended to 65 and 70 years,’’ he said.
Mr Sale also appealed to the state government to look in to the backlog of teachers Salary that are promoted ever since.
“We appealing to the state government to pay the backlog of teachers’ salaries promoted long time and the disengage teachers for them to keep body and soul together.
“The government should also look into the issue of teachers Salary scale TSS and implement it,” he said.
The chairman NUT, also called on Government to embarked on training and re-training of teachers to improve standard of education in the state.
