Yenagoa — TEACHERS in Bayelsa State have issued a two-week ultimatum to the state government to address all outstanding issues relating to their welfare, or else it would resume its industrial action earlier suspended last August.

Rising from a meeting at the Teachers' House, Yenizue-Gene suburb of Yenagoa, the state capital, where it re-appraised the persistent problems confronting teachers and the entire education system in the state, they observed that the state government had not respected the collective agreement it entered with the union.

The teachers also decried the poor state of infrastructure and inadequate supply of instructional materials to schools in the state, adding that the non-provision of science equipment to Senior Secondary Schools to enable students prepare for the 2008/2009 Senior Schools Certificate Examination(SSCE) was a hindrance to the development of education in the state.

In its six-point resolution, under the aegis of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), the aggrieved teachers called on the state government to completely pay up all outstanding 15 per cent salary arrears owed teachers in the remaining six Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state.

It further demanded that government should pay the 2007 promotion arrears and implement the 2008 promotions arrears for teachers with letters indicating appropriate financial effective dates.

The union also resolved "to implement without delay the 2009 promotions/annual incremental arrears for teachers and address the issue of imposition of NUT representatives both in the State Universal Basic Education Board(SUBEB) and the Local Government Education Authorities (LGEA) with dispatch.

They also want the state government to "adequately provide science equipment to secondary schools in the state as to enable them prepare towards the Senior SSC examinations in 2010 as well as pay up all debts owed principals of Secondary Schools who were mandated by the state to borrow monies to provide science equipment for the 2008/2009 WASC examination," it added

The union said it was holding strongly to the agreement it had with the state government last August "as valid, sacred and inviolable and therefore should the issues above remain unaddressed till December 31, the NUT and indeed the teachers of Bayelsa State will have no alternative than to resume its suspended strike action."

The NUT urged well-meaning citizens of the state to prevail on the state government to respect the collective agreement it signed with union in order to avert the looming crisis.

The state Commissioner for Education, Josephine Ezonbodor was said to be in Copenhagen , Denmark , attending the Climate Change Summit.