President Bola Tinubu has assured teachers in the country that his government will ensure they get their due reward.
The President, who gave the pledge yesterday, during the 2023 World Teachers’ Day commemoration at the Eagle Square, Abuja, regretted the challenges confronting Nigerian teachers, including overcrowded classrooms, scarce resources and limited opportunities for professional development, which he said are the result of prolonged neglect of the noble profession.
Delivering the President’s keynote address, titled: ‘Teacher Appreciation: Nurturing Minds, Changing Lives’, President Tinubu, who was represented by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, noted that Nigeria’s future can only be safeguarded by investing in education, empowering the teachers and providing every child with the tools to reach their dream destination.
Shettima said: “Our commitment to actualising our education reforms is to drive the emergence and sustenance of a system that recognises that education is the mother of new ideas and groundbreaking discoveries.
Noting that every educated person is a product of teachers, President Tinubu expressed the nation’s gratitude to Nigerian teachers, reassuring them that their profession is a prime in the vision for the nation and her development agenda.
Observing that the world has undergone serious changes, the president said in the age of artificial intelligence where technology is transforming every facet of lives, teachers face new challenges and opportunities in a digital era.
President Tinubu further disclosed that he has directed the Ministers of Education to collaborate with the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to comprehensively revise existing guidelines “to ensure that anyone seeking to benefit from this Act must be fully prepared to return to the classroom, equipped with the latest teaching techniques and skills, especially in the realm of information technology”.
The Vice-President also revealed
a significant Government policy initiative, the Harmonised Retirement Age of Teachers in Nigeria Act 2022, “which allows our dedicated teachers to continue their invaluable service for up to forty years or until reaching the age of sixty-five, whichever comes first. This measure is designed to retain the wealth of experience within our educational system and bolster the number of educators in our schools”.
Recalling that the role of a teacher had moved from not only imparting knowledge, the president said it has extended far beyond that, and they are now expected to be technologically adept, adaptable and innovative.
“We are going to invest in modernizing our educational infrastructure and make sure that we are in step with the world on the road to the future”, Tinubu added.
On what informed government’s decision to present the President’s Teachers and Schools Excellence Awards this year, the president said improving the condition of teachers was not enough.
