By Sodeinde Temidayo David
The federal government has disclosed that it has commenced the implementation of new retirement age for teachers in the country.
This disclosure was made in Abuja while marking the 2021 World Teachers Day celebration themed Teachers at the Heart of Education Recovery.
At the 2020 World Teachers Day Celebration, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the extension of teachers’ retirement age to 65 years from 60 years or 40 years of service instead of the former 35 years of service.
At this year’s event, the President said the Ministry of Education has commenced education officers’ guidelines to ensure seamless implementation, stating that this had been negotiated and the outstanding salaries of affected teachers would soon be paid before December.
“I am not going to recount the entire components for implementation; however, the Federal Ministry of Education has commenced the pilot implementation of the increase in the retirement age to 65 or 40 years of service for teachers,” the President noted.
He further expressed that for teachers to effectively be at the heart of education recovery, there is a need for continuous re-tooling in the field.
He noted that teachers and all those connected with teaching and learning will now undergo annual training on modern techniques of teaching and learning.
Mr Buhari also revealed that education parastatals and other non-governmental organisations would partner with the government to achieve this aim, promising to collaborate with the defence ministry to ensure the protection of children in schools across the country.
The Minister of Education, Mr Adamu Adamu, commended the President and added that in an effort to fast track the implementation, the ministry constituted a national implementation committee, which submitted resolutions for implementation.
He noted that the ministry will liaise with the 36 states ministry of education, including the FCT Education Board, to identify the respective courses of study required by each state.
As stated by Mr Adamu, the award of N150,000 is proposed for undergraduates and N100,000 only to National College of Education (NCE) students.
Following this, beneficiaries must attend public institutions only and sign a bond to serve their state for five years on graduation.
The fund is set to be sourced from UBEC, TETFund and managed by the Federal Scholarship Board and sponsorship to at least one refresher training per annum.
Mr Adamu called on Nigerian teachers to continue to support the government to shape the future of the education sector and the country at large.
At the teachers’ day event held in Abuja, there was a presentation of the president’s teachers and schools’ excellence award to outstanding teachers and schools across the country to commemorate their day.
The awards are classified into different categories such as the 2021 best teachers in public, private schools, best public and private schools and best school administration.
Modupe Gbadeyanka