Michael Olukoya, the President, Nigeria Union of Teachers, on Friday urged the National Assembly to come up with a national policy on education that would be more functional and could be used to evaluate the state of education in the country.
Olukoya, who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos, also urged the lawmakers to ensure that the Federal Government respected laws enacted on education.
Olukoya was reacting to a report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation that categorised Nigeria as being fourth in the number of young pupils out of school since 1999.
Olukoya, who disagreed with the report, said that though Nigeria’s education system was faced with challenges, it could not have the highest number of her young pupils out of school.
He said: “I do not know the accuracy of the report that Nigeria tops the table of 12 other countries with which it accounts for 47 per cent of the global out-of-school population as reported.
“But should young people be out of school at all?”
He said it was regrettable that the teachers had been on strike for three weeks over the issue of peculiar allowance and the government had not done anything about it.
Olukoya said that while such young people were out on the streets because of the strike, the children of the political leaders were schooling abroad.
He said: “We must, as leaders, show sincerity in the affairs of the people.
“There must be adequate commitment from the government.
“In a developed society, people and the government show concern in the development of education and welfare of citizens.”
Olukoya said that apathy from parents, especially the very low income earners, had contributed to the number of young people out of schools in Nigeria.
The NUT president also spoke on the welfare of teachers, appealing to the federal and state governments to make the Housing For All Teachers Scheme a reality.
“Since the Federal Government, through the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, inaugurated a seven-man Ministerial Committee in 2012, nothing has taken off,” he said.
He regretted that despite several reminders by the union to those concerned, nothing seemed to be in place.
“We have kept disturbing the bodies concerned, yet, nothing is on ground to show there is a head way. Bureaucracy is a major hindrance,” he said.
Olukoya said that if the welfare of teachers was taken seriously, it would improve their productivity.
“The welfare of teachers is very paramount in determining their performance. The housing scheme should be addressed as soon as possible,” he said.
On the implementation of the enhanced salary for teachers, Olukoya stated that the union would press on with the ongoing strike in the states that remained adamant.
“After our meeting in Ekiti yesterday, we resolved to maintain the strike in those states that have refused to adhere to the 27.5 per cent allowance agreement or make commitments to do so.”
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