SAMUEL AWOYINFA X-rays the teachers’ strike in Ogun State which is taking toll on the pupils
A Senior Secondary School 2 pupil of Egba
Comprehensive College, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Olumide Adebayo, looked
worried on Wednesday.
“We are supposed to start our Unified Examination today, but the strike has disrupted everything,” he said.
Adebayo and other pupils in different public secondary schools in the state are in a dilemma.
For over a week now, educational
activities in government-owned primary and secondary schools in Ogun
State have grinded to a halt due to the industrial action embarked upon
by their teachers.
Since then, the pupils had remained at home, and those who still go to school loaf around, play football and return home.
The grievances which culminated in the
current industrial action, according to the teachers, had been sent to
the state government last year, but nothing was done about it. And for
the first time, the Nigeria Union of Teachers and Academic Staff Union
of Secondary Schools came together in pursuit of a common cause.
Penultimate Saturday, both unions
supported by some officials of the state chapter of All Nigeria
Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools, embarked on a peaceful
rally in Abeokuta, the state capital.
According to the teachers, the grouses
include non-payment of 12.5 per cent Teachers Peculiar Allowance and
2014 leave allowance for Grade level 13-17, and withholding of
deductions (bank loans, cooperative loans, union dues from October 2014
to date) from teachers’ salary.
They are also asking for running grants
for four terms, appointment of principal-generals, recruitment of more
teachers to fill existing vacancies and non-operating of the Teaching
Service Commission as a statutory commission, as core civil servants are
directors as opposed to teachers.
The state chairman of the NUT, Mr. Dare
Ilekoya, had ruled out the notion that the teachers were being sponsored
by politicians in opposition parties.
He noted that they had ventilated these
demands to the government since 2014, and nothing had been done about
it, despite several promises.
He said, “We have been agitating since
last year and nothing was done. All we had were promises. The strike has
no political undertone. We will never mix politics with our profession,
we are out to better the lots of our members.”
Ilekoya, joined by the chairman of the
ASSUS, Mr. Akeem Lasisi, explained that unless their demands were met by
the government, the strike might continue for some time.
Lasisi said, “We wanted to communicate
with the governor but he was not around when we visited his office.
Communication is an essential ingredient for a successful government. We
want to see the face of the governor because he has been holding
meetings with other workers in the state, are we not workers in the
state?
“The governor promised openly during our
‘one day with the governor’ that the balance of the 27.5 per cent of the
Teachers’ Peculiar Salary would be paid but unfortunately, the balance
was not paid when our salaries were paid.
“Ogun teachers depend on their salaries
and allowances because we cannot get gratification from the students
(pupils) that we teach.”
The statement made available to
journalists by the teachers read, “Ogun State government withholding all
deductions from teachers’ salaries including bank loans, co-operatives
deductions for upward of three months.
“Non- payment of leave allowance to teachers on grade level 13 and above in both primary nd second schools.
“Non-filling of vacant Principal General and Headmaster General positions.
“Non- release of running grant for four terms.”
At the peaceful protest penultimate Saturday, the teachers were joined by some state officials of ANCOPSS.
Lasisi said the governor was scheduled to
meet the leaders of the agitating unions on Saturday, January 17, 2015
but he sent the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Taiwo Adeoluwa,
in his stead, which they did not accept.
He added that a letter dated January 16,
2015 was sent to them from the office of the Head of Service, Bureau of
Establishment and Training, requesting the presence of union executives
at the Banquet Hall of the Government House, Oke-Igbein on Saturday, a
copy of which was made available to journalists.
The union leaders had held two meetings
so far with the state government officials, one penultimate Saturday and
another on last Tuesday, but both were deadlocked.
The second one was with the Head of
Service, Mrs Modupe Adekunle, since the governor, Senator Ibikunle
Amosun, was busy with his re-election campaign rally tours.
Governor Ibikunle Amosun had earlier condemned the strike, before making a detour.
Penultimate Friday, when it commenced, he said he was not aware of the development.
He said this at the Ijebu Igbo Central
Mosque while answering questions from journalists on the development
during his campaign tour of Ijebu North Local Government.
He said, “I am on campaign and I cannot
talk about what I don’t know, when I get back to Abeokuta, I will find
out, but I know no responsible teacher will be out of schools.”
But stakeholders hold that government and the striking teachers must reach a compromise, so that the schools will be re-opened.
Some of them, however, frowned at the
current teacher -pupil ratio in many schools in the state, decaying
infrastructure and non-availability of equipment to impart
technical/entrepreneurial skills.
The National President, Old Students
Association, Methodist High School, Arigbajo, Ifo, Mr. Olumide Biyi,
said the current ratio of one teacher to almost 150 pupils in a class
did not augur well for proper teaching and learning.
To him, this scenario is far from being conducive to learning.
“In our days, we were few in our classes,
and the teacher had a grip on us. But the current scenario where the
teacher-pupil ratio is 1 to 150, does not augur well for effective
learning and teaching.
“The teacher does not have a grip on the
class. Those who want to learn among the pupils may be constrained by
the back-benchers who are noise makers. I think the state government
should look into this,” he says.
A parent, Mrs Nike Adewale, expressed
concern about the disruption of the academic calendar, which she feared
might affect the performance of those in JSS 3 and SSS 3 in their
examinations.
“This is another disruption of the
academic calendar of our children. Those who are in JSS 3 and those in
SSS 3 will soon be sitting for their terminal examinations.
“Even those in other classes will also be
sitting for their termly exams. It will take some committed teachers
for them to cover the whole syllabus; invariably their academic
performance will be affected somehow.”
A teacher who pleaded anonymity for fear
of being victimised by the authorities confessed that the equipment
needed to impart science, and technical/entrepreneurial studies were not
sufficient and where they were present, they are obsolete.
She said, “It is funny that many of the
science laboratories are not sufficiently equipped and we are dreaming
of producing scientists to change our world. The same thing applies to
technical and entrepreneurial studies. The equipment to teach them is
not there.”
However, the governor has embarked on construction of model schools across the three senatorial districts of the state.
He said these schools would boast of world-class equipment for Information technology and technical studies.
This has also received knocks from the opposition.
A member, House of Representatives,
Adekunle Adeyemi, described the N1.2bn being spent on the model school
as misplaced priority, adding that the governor should have used it to
address the infrastructural decay in the schools.
Adeyemi who represents Ifo/Ewekoro in the
lower legislative chamber said, “No responsible and responsive
government will allow teachers to go on strike, because of the adverse
effect it will have on the pupils. It is as if the government is taking
the teachers for granted. Are they not part of the society?”
When contacted on the matter,
Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Segun Odubela, said
he did not attend the recent meetings with the union leaders, as he had
been on the campaign train with the governor.
He directed our correspondent to speak with the Head of Service who attended the meetings.
The HOS could not be reached as a source
in her office, who did not want to be named for fear of being sanctioned
said, “The governor has directed that she should not speak on the
matter. The HOS had had two meetings with the leaders of the teachers.
The second one ended in a deadlock. But they had been told to go and
meet with their members and call off the strike first and then open a
dialogue with the government after.”
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