Slogans of teachers around the globe are so inspiring and encouraging both then and now. They are not limited to great teachers; no controversy. If you can write your name, thank your teacher. No teacher, no nation, great teacher, great nation; when you build a teacher, you build a nation. If you cannot read and write, you look for a qualified teacher.
From all indications, teachers seemed to be the main heroes of progress in terms of education and societal development. However, the innovation has placed those in the teaching profession at the back seat of the world celebrities, considering that scientists are taking over the news platforms. The entrepreneurs control the language of the honours because of their financial and mental creativities in wealth creation and accumulation. Artists are reverend as well, as they are among those championing the centre of interest by the majority population; having become the shepherds of the modern age. These groups of people have traded oceans and conquered others' fates, earning the world reckon, and every society serves them, leaving their true builders - the teachers at the back of human recognition nowadays. But it becomes imperative to justify the place of teachers in the decision-making process as far as the education sector is concerned, knowing full well that no nation gains any meaningful ground without their contributions.
In this instance, while marking the 2024 World Teachers Day on Saturday, 5th October in Ebonyi, the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT emphasized the need to value the voices of teachers in decision-making in the education sector and general societal development.
The NUT National President, Comrade Audu Titus Amba, who made the call at the union's Secretariat, Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State Capital, said, the theme of the WTD celebration for this year centred on "Valuing teacher voices towards a new social contract for Education.
The theme, according to Audu, represented by Comrade Lagha-Owei Fyneman Zik, the Association Of Primary School Headteachers Of Nigeria, AOPSHON National President, "highlights the important role teachers play in shaping the future of education and society, and the need to value their knowledge, voice and participation in decision making in education."
The President disclosed that education around the globe is currently in crisis, saying the rapidly changing world has been faced with numerous emerging challenges such as climate change, technical expansion and digital divide, demographic changes, armed conflicts, natural disasters, pandemics and other emergencies.
"These developments have impacted the education landscape, leading to inequalities and crises of equity and relevance. This situation underscores the need for a social contract which must be built on principles that assure the right to quality education throughout life and strengthen education as a public endeavour and a public good (UNESCO, 2021.)
Audu further lamented that the new challenges and new trends in education have placed a greater burden on teachers and expanded their roles, pointing out that, "the teachers are required to build their capacities to help learners acquire new knowledge, skills, values and competencies they need to shape their lives and to be relevant and useful players in today's knowledge society.
"This year's World Teachers Day, therefore, emphasizes the need to address the systematic challenges faced by teachers, to strengthen social dialogue, and to incorporate teachers' perspectives into educational policy and decision-making; they need supportive environments and better working conditions to ensure effective education delivery, and to meet the needs of society and demands of the 21st century," he added.
He recalled that NUT recently launched the "Go Public! Fund Education Campaign," a global call spearheaded by Education International (EI) for adequate funding of education and the teaching profession. He stressed the need for launching an education promotional campaign because poor funding and inadequate investment in education constitute a major barrier to the effective implantation of educational policies and programmes in Nigeria.
"This year's World Teachers Day provides us another opportunity to launch the Go Public! Fund Education Campaign at the state level with a view of amplifying and deepening our call on tiers of government to invest adequately in education and the teaching profession to ensure the provision of quality Public education for all."
He also recalled that the age-long demand of the NUT for upward review of the teachers' retirement age was addressed when former President Muhammad Buhari signed into law the Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers Bill.
In his words, the law has provided for the retirement of teachers on attainment of 65 years of age or 40 years of service.
He disclosed that 23 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Abuja, have so far implemented the law; however, he advised the remaining 13 states to implement it without further delay to address manpower and other needs in the school system across the nation.
In his address, the NUT Chairman in Ebonyi State, Comrade Ekechi Francis Okorie recalled the historic antecedents of the WTD, which he said, owes its origin to the Conference of the Ministers of Affiliate Nations to the International Labour Organization and United Education Scientific and Cultural Organization, ILO/UNESCO who on October 5th 1966 converged in Geneva, Switzerland to consider ILO/UNESCO document on recommendations concerning the status of teachers and education.
To clarify the recommendations, according to Ekechi, it addressed the parlour state of teachers and social disregard for the profession all over the world, particularly in Nigeria, where teaching has become an all-comer affair.
He noted that the event was targeted at establishing a minimum standard and framework for the welfare of teachers, their social security and professional relevance in the educational, political and economic life of the nations in the world.
He described teachers as character moulders and nation builders in considering their pivotal roles in shaping the future by nurturing and impacting students and driving educational programs' progress.
"However, to fully harness teachers' potentials, it is crucial and imperative that their voices are heard and valued in the decision-making process that affects their profession. The importance of valuing teachers' voices underscores the need to integrate their perception into educational policies and foster a supportive environment for the development of the teaching profession and that of education," he said.
He called for collective synergy to improve teachers' service delivery in the discharge of their call in the teaching profession.
Ekechi commended the giant strides and policy trust of Governor Francis Nwifuru in reshaping and revamping the education sector in Ebonyi State, saying he has done well in ensuring the working condition of teachers is enhanced through partnering with them during the last edition of the World Teachers Day.
He extolled Governor Nwifuru for having appointed some teachers as Permanent Secretaries into the state ministries, boards, and parastatals. He described the approval of an extension of teachers' service years by Nwifuru as a bold step to encourage better service delivery in the teaching profession in the state.
He thanked the governor for having granted a waiver for the recruitment of one thousand (1,000) teachers in the state public secondary schools for corresponding replacement of those who exited the profession either by death, retirement or research for greener pastures, also "being among the first governor from the South Eastern Geo- political zone to approve the payment of N70,000 new minimum wage and regular payments of teachers salaries."
He however, tasked all the council chairmen in the state to prioritize the payment of the teachers' salaries as approved by the Federal High Court and Governor Nwifuru who okayed the autonomy of the local government, given the experience of the past where teachers were owed for months due to the inability of the local government authorities to shoulder such huge responsibility.
Ekechi praised Governor Nwifuru for embarking on the promotion of teachers from 2021 till date, the establishment of Ebonyi State University of Aerospace and Engineering in Ezza land and University of ICT in Oferekpe in Izzi, described the new development as his penchant for giving education a priority in the present administration.
In his new appeal to the governor, the NUT State Chairman said: "Like Oliver Twist, we are passionately calling for approval for the payment of the teachers' promotion arrears, approval for the payment of 8/10 months salary arrears of those teachers who were recaptured as a result of the service elongation.
"Others are in-service training if teachers for more quality service years delivery, approval for recruitment of more teachers in the employ of State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB as the UNESCO recommended teachers-pupil ratio of 1.35 has skyrocketed to 1.50 owing to a dearth of the teaching personnel in the employ of SUBEB and assistance for the reconstruction of the union's parameter fence that collapsed.
"Your Excellency Sir, considering the busy schedule of the union's leadership and its frequent journeys, the union passionately requests your consideration for the donation of the 18-seater bus to augment the ageing one that was purchased decades ago," he pointed out.
Also, the NUT State Secretary, Basil Asuquo, pleaded with the government at all levels to employ more teachers in public schools, make the environment conducive, and prioritize the welfare of the education workforce by increasing their salaries.
"The government should pay rural allowance to teachers in the hinterlands to motivate more teachers to go to the rural communities to teach, "Asuquo pleaded.
Delivering his keynote speech during the event, Dr Emmanuel Chike Onwe, a former Commissioner for Information and State Orientation in Ebonyi, urged teachers to maintain self-efficacy in the teaching profession, describing them as the true heroes of progress in society.
He wondered why teachers are normally taken for granted in society, saying they are known as the backseaters. Onwe, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication at Ebonyi State University, EBSU, recommended that teachers should be paid like Senators. "We are happy that Ebonyi State Governor promised to strengthen public schools, but if governments are sincere, they should pay teachers more than Senators, because poverty makes one not to be recognized. Salary is what they pay you to shut up.
"But the truth is that teachers should not be treated as civil servants. If the head teachers are given such cars as our governor gave to the resident doctors, the story will change," the Keynote speaker said.
He urged the teachers to think about how to create self-employment opportunities for themselves, stressing that after God and the priest, the next authority is teachers, and they needed to maintain self-efficacy. He urged the teachers to shun laziness but rather learn and relearn to be effective in their duties by grasping and delivering the knowledge of the new trends by acquiring hard and soft skills.
The University Don recommended that the administration officers in the public sectors should give teachers more access to the decision-making process, especially on education issues, and organise seminars and workshops for them regularly.
The Chairman of the occasion and Commissioner for Primary and Secondary Education in the state, Prof Paul Awo Nwobashi, said teachers must comply with what is going on, especially by being ICT compliant for effective delivery.
"Some of you don't have an Android phone, and some of you are even afraid to touch a laptop; teachers are always under-grading themselves. They agreed to belong to the ordinary class, and that's not supposed to be so, because you made the classes, engineers, doctors, leaders, everything, and you are the builders.
"We wish you organize workshops and invite facilitators to talk so that your morale can be boosted because, in most countries in the world, teachers are most paid workers," Nwobashi observed.
The Commissioner disclosed early that Ebonyi ranked third on high-quality literacy among the Nigerian youths in the country and urged the teachers to put more effort into getting the pupils and students on the right side of educational quality.
The State Head of Service, Mrs Ritamary Okoro who represented Governor Francis Nwifuru at the event, equally advised teachers to work on quality representation, saying his administration appointed their members to be permanent secretaries and assured more recognition would be given to those in the teaching profession while in office.
He observed that the celebration of teachers every 5th of October had become an annual ritual meant to commemorate their efforts towards nation-building and the significance of promoting the teaching profession around the globe.
He expressed joy that the occasion unveiled the ethical roles of every teacher to play in reshaping the future of children and the entire populace as far as education is concerned.
Nwifuru said his administration understands that teachers are the backbone of the educational institutions, and that necessitated the ongoing recruitment of over 1,000 teachers and other projects already embarked on to develop the education sector in the state.
