By Daniel Tyokua
The Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) has called for a special salary structure for teachers and improved facilities in schools across the country.
The National President of ASUSS, Comrade Olusola Adigun, made the call on Monday in Abuja during the union’s 1st Joint National Celebration of World Teachers’ Day & 3rd national leadership training workshop.
Adigun said the remuneration and conditions of service of teachers did not adequately reflect the enormous responsibilities placed on them.
He called for a salary structure that recognises the special nature of teaching as a profession and offers rewards capable of attracting the best brains into the classroom.
The ASUSS president also lamented the non-implementation of the 2022 Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers Act.
He said the law represented an important intervention on the retirement age of teachers, stressing that the union’s position remained that it should be respected, particularly by state governments.
Adigun urged governments and other stakeholders at all levels to stop formulating education policies without the input of teachers.
He also called for a holistic improvement of infrastructure in schools across the country, including modern and safe classrooms, functional laboratories, well-equipped libraries, ICT facilities and digital learning infrastructure.
“Every year, we celebrate teachers. We present awards, make speeches, take photographs and publish goodwill messages. And then the celebration ends.
“Yet, the challenges confronting teachers remain. This must change. Teachers do not need appreciation alone; they need action. They need policies that recognise the importance and peculiar responsibilities of their profession.
“ASUSS renews its call for a special salary structure for teachers in Nigeria. We believe that the peculiar responsibilities, professional demands and societal importance of teaching deserve a remuneration structure that properly recognises the profession.
“We also call for the unconditional and uniform implementation of the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022,” Adigun said.
On his part, the President of the FCT chapter of ASUSS, Comrade Julius Ogundiran, commended the improved welfare of teachers under the current leadership of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), led by the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike.
He said before Wike assumed office, teachers found it difficult to access their schools due to poor road networks, but that the minister had addressed the challenge.
Ogundiran pledged the commitment of his leadership to further improve teaching and learning across schools in the six Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory.
