Federal Government of Nigeria has lined up some incentives for Nigerian teachers, part of which are the retirement age extension and wage increase, aimed at attracting the best brains into the profession.
Minister of education, Adamu Adamu, who dropped this hint today to newsmen, shortly after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the presidential villa, Abuja said: “I want to assure teachers that this government will do to them what has never been done. This is the first biggest step.
“The intention is to attract the best brains to the teaching profession. For that, the President approved the reintroduction of bursary awards which I told you here last year, improving teacher quality, and funding teaching practice.”
Adamau Adamu said that his memo to the FEC stemmed from President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval of some special packages for teachers last year, adding that the the Council had approved a bill to be called Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Bill, 2021 and will be sent to the National Assembly for enactment into law.
“So, all the promises the President made and all the approvals that he has given me will now begin to put into effect because this is a legal backing that is required for it.”
The minister said that the President had also approved an enhanced entry point for teachers from Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND).
“Then, he approved that there should be some special allowances that will allow teachers to be posted to places you can consider ‘hardship postings,’ roll posting allowance, science teacher allowance, and of course, we have Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) under us that has professionalized the profession.
“Those are the highlights which you already know. But this is the biggest stage now. We are getting legal backing for all these things.
“The essence of the bill is to seek approval so that there is legal backing for the new retirement age of 65 years for teachers and the service period being extended to 40 years for teachers. This is the main issue while all other issues are ancillary to it.”
