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Nigeria: Teachers' Strike - NUT Asks FG to Implement TSS
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Leadership (Abuja)
4 July 2008
Posted to the web 4 July 2008
Moses John
Abuja
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), yesterday said the Federal Government has the constitutional duty to implement the controversial Teacher Salary Structures (TSS) which made teachers all over the country to embark on a nationwide strike action to demand for improvement in their welfare.
NUT, while reacting to a statement credited to both the Minister of Education, Dr Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu and his Information Counterpart, Mr. John Odey over the ongoing national strike by primary and secondary school teachers, described it as unfortunate.
A statement jointly signed by Onem Nelson Onem, the NUT Deputy national President and Ikpe Obong, the Secretary-General said, "The failure of the Federal Executive Council to resolve this matter today gives cause for the public to doubt its commitment to education and teachers' welfare. From the comments by the two ministers, it would appear that a few persons are misleading the FEC and mis-representing the demands of the NUT.
The union added that "NUT is not asking the Federal Government to fix salaries for the states.
The two ministers misrepresented the NUT by seeking to create the impression that our union is insisting that the Federal Government should decide salaries for teachers employed by the states. The position of the NUT is that the Federal Government should issue the circular creating the Teachers' Salary Structure for its teachers.
"The persistent misrepresentation, especially by the minister of education, is unfortunate. Indeed, it is obvious that this habitual misrepresentation is responsible for the negative position of the Federal Government on the Teachers' Salary Structure. The time is ripe for Mr. President to declare a vacancy in the education ministry because the incumbent minister is totally incapable of correctly and honestly briefing his principal and owning up to commitments made for and on behalf of the Federal Government. The minister of education is the chairman of the National Council on Education, which approved the Teachers' Salary Structure.
The statement added that, "The argument that the Federal Government has no right or role in relation to how the states run the primary and secondary school system is patently incorrect. The Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions) Act (Cap E3, Laws of the Federation) prescribes as the duty of the Education Minister the establishment and maintenance of minimum standards of education in the federation. Section 7 of the Act provides that the education minister "shall have regard" to the motivation and welfare of teachers all over the federation, adding The fund for the implementation of the Teachers' Salary Structure at federal level is in the 2008 budget, already appropriated by the National Assembly. The issue now is not ability to pay. We cannot understand what is so difficult in issuing the circular to give effect to the disbursement for teachers employed by the Federal Government".
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The union also stressed that it has the right to picket the private schools, as Section 42 of the Trade Union Act provides that "it shall be lawful for one or more persons acting on behalf of a trade union in furtherance of a trade dispute to peacefully persuade any person to abstain from work. They urged the ministers of education and information to receive proper guidance from the Attorney-General, so that they could appreciate that picketing was lawful.
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