Primary education is regarded as the most important phase in a child’s academic pursuit because that is where the foundation is laid. On October 5, Nigeria joined the rest of the world to celebrate World Teachers’ Day.
In Nigeria, however, primary school teachers in public schools face numerous challenges. Apart from being the least motivated on the academic ladder across the country, they are poorly remunerated.
They also lack working tools and training, among other challenges. Many of these teachers lament irregularities in their salaries, months of accumulated arrears of allowances, as well as percentage payments. Daily Trust spoke with some of the teachers in some states and now reports.
Lost hope in Kaduna
A primary school teacher in Kaduna, who simply identified himself as Musa, for fear of possible victimization, lamented irregularities in their salaries.
He said they could wait for 58 days before receiving their salaries. He said life had been difficult for many primary school teachers in the state due to salary cuts and without any payment criteria. “Sometimes a graduate receives less salary than a holder of the National Certificate in Education (NCE),” he said.
Musa said that despite complaints to the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and other authorities concerned, not much has been done.
Read More: https://dailytrust.com/primary-sch-teachers-abandoned-owed-salaries-in-many-states
