Reps Want Teachers To Receive Same Salaries As CBN Officials, Other High-Paying Institutions

•Ask TRCN to publish data of quacks, unqualified Teachers per State

The House of Representatives on Thursday adopted the report of its Committee which seeks to enact a Teacher’s Salary Structure as it is obtainable in other professions like Nigerian Maritime Authority, Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, among others with a view to boosting their morale.

The details were contained in the report/recommendations of the House Committee on Basic Education and Services, considered during the Committee of the Whole.

The report on the motion which was passed in October 2019, as stipulated in the Votes and Proceedings was laid on the 19th May 2020.

According to the House report, the lawmakers urged the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) to publicize the data of quacks and unqualified teachers per state in Nigeria.

The lawmakers also tasked the Nigeria Union of Teachers, National Teachers Institutes, and Association of Arabic Studies, to ensure in consonance with the provision of the Teacher Registration Council of Nigeria Act, that a Teacher must possess a minimum qualification of Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) and must be registered, certified and licensed.

The Parliamentarians also emphasised the need to re-introduce the Teachers Assessment Test to ascertain the quality of teachers.

The House also underscored the need for the Teachers to be inducted by the Teacher Registration Council of Nigeria after pre-service training before being given employment.

In the same vein, the House harped on the need to strengthen the Teacher Registration Council of Nigeria Act with a view to enable it to monitor the recruitment exercise of Teachers at all levels of Government.

During the consideration of the report, the lawmakers expressed support for the establishment of a Teacher’s Academy by the Federal Government which would serve as an instrument for quitting a uniform standard for Nigerian Teachers that graduated from diverse Universities and where procedural and practical teaching would be taught.

While noting that the low remuneration of teachers encourages them to migrate from one place to another, the Parliamentarians called for an urgent need to make the teaching profession attractive through the enactment of a Teacher’s Salary Structure as it is obtainable in other professions like Nigerian Maritime Authority, Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited etc. with a view to boosting their morale.