…Demand change of attitude
By Adesina Wahab
Experts in the education sector have blamed the poor renumeration of teachers and lecturers on poor attitude of Nigerians to education and also not seeing teachers as people to be given priority attention.
They spoke during a zoom meeting organised by the Concerned Parents and Educators Network, CPE, to mark this year’s Teachers Day. The theme of the event was “Poor salary of teachers and lecturers.”
The panelists, Yomi Fawehinmi, Taiwo Akinlami, Anjonrin Adeyemi, Beulah Marshal and Peter Dugbo, also noted that the society also has a wrong perception of who a teacher is.
Akinlami, in his remarks, also blamed teachers for not organizing themselves, but rather go agonizing when as a group they could demand changes and achieve results.
On his part, Fawehinmi noted that the attitude of most Nigerians to education is poor and that some see teaching as a profession for those who could not make it in other professions.
“People don’t appreciate teaching as a profession and teachers are not seen as those to be taken as a priority. The lack of voice on the part of teachers is a factor too.
‘Regarding the pay of university lecturers, it is tilted towards allowances. Also, the practice whereby the unions will be negotiating with the government is not the ideal thing. They are not employees of the Federal Ministry of Education, it is the Governing Council of each university that it is the employer of the workers and they should negotiate with them. The salary must not necessarily be the same across the country. If you lecture at the University of Lagos, your pay should not compulsorily be the same as that of the person who lectures at a university in Gusau,” he posited.
He added that in places like Canada, there is no central structure deciding issues relating to education, but that it is done at provincial level.
Adeyemi, in his submission, noted that people have wrong perception about teachers and that even some parents don’t value them.
He called for the professionalization of the teaching profession. Beulah, in her remarks, blamed school owners for not taking good care of their teachers.
She called for a change of mindset, adding that teachers must be adequately compensated. Dugbo said school owners invest in structures but forget to take care of their teachers.
The Founder of CPE, Mrs Yinka Ogunde, thanked participants for their contributions, adding that the group would continue to bring issue relating to education to national consciousness.
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