FG, NUT And Primary Education

The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) recently protested the plan by the Federal Government to transfer the funding and management of primary schools in the country to local government councils.
The NUT, during the protest, said the transfer of primary schools should not include handing over of payment of teachers’ salaries to the local government councils.
The protest came on the heels of the Federal Government’s plan to scrap the State Joint Allocation Account Committee (JAAC), which the union said would bring back the 1994 sad experience, in which local government councils were unable to pay the salaries and entitlements of primary school teachers for several months.
To this end, the NUT posited that local government councils lack the financial muscles and the political will to manage or fund primary schools and therefore, vowed to resist any attempt by the Federal Government to re-introduce stringent policies that would bring hardship to primary school teachers in particular.
The Federal Government, the teachers suggested, should rather pursue policies and programmes that would make the nation’s education system more effective and efficient instead of introducing policies that would further impoverish teachers and stifle the growth of primary education.
The Tide agrees no less with the positions canvassed by the teachers on this issue. Judging from past experiences, especially in the primary education sub-sector, there is no gainsaying the fact that local government councils could hardly manage primary schools satisfactorily as was the case in 1994 when they incurred several months of unpaid teachers’ salaries and entitlements, thus, leaving primary education in an unprecedented rot.
This glaring ineptitude on the part of the councils had dire consequences, as frequent strikes by teachers became the order of the day, a situation which grossly affected teaching and learning at that foundation level of education. Therefore, any attempt to take the nation back to those dark and inglorious days of subjecting primary school teachers to hardship would not augur well for primary education in the country and, hence, must be discouraged.
It is against this backdrop that we urge the Federal Government to take another look at this proposal, as primary education remains the foundation and bedrock of any nation’s education system, and if not properly managed and nurtured, could pose serious danger to the educational well-being of our children, who are, indeed, the leaders of tomorrow.
While The Tide is not opposed to granting autonomy to local government councils, we note that the section of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which vests the funding and management of primary education on States, even as the councils play a supportive role, is very clear and unambiguous, and more especially in view of  the recent judgement of the Supreme Court on this issue.
Indeed, any attempt to politicise the payment of the salaries and entitlements of primary school teachers would be counter-productive. At best, the National Primary Education Commission should be saddled with the responsibility of payment of teachers’ salaries and entitlements, as a way of insulating their emoluments from the vagaries of politics.
Again, we want to advise that treating primary school teachers’ salaries as first line charge would not be a bad idea, as this would make it possible for their wages to be deducted directly from the Federation Account. This, ostensibly, will discourage the practice where teachers in public schools go into farming and trading instead of concentrating on their teaching job because of the non-payment of their salaries.
To fully give vent to the arguments canvassed by NUT, the National Assembly should throw its weight behind the union, to ensure that payment of salaries of primary school teachers is not transferred to local government councils. This is the best way to go if the nation must revive its primary education system that is almost comatose.
We must all agree that the survival of primary education in the country is as critical as it is non-negotiable. As core professionals, teachers deserve the best and their welfare must never be toyed with. Gone are the days, when many believed that the reward of teachers is in heaven. Their reward is surely here on earth; they are entitled to it, at least, whilst they are alive.