The Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) has expressed regret for the ongoing killings, kidnappings, and harassment of teachers and students across the country, claiming that the heinous acts were negatively impacting teachers’ productivity.
Despite the situation, ASUSS praised Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai for hiring 7,600 teachers, as well as Kano and Adamawa for extending members’ retirement to 65 years.
This was stated by the ASUSS CWC in a communique issued after its meeting in Kaduna on Wednesday and made available to journalists by its National President, Samuel Omaji, and Secretary-General, Sola Adigun, who also serves as the Chairman of ASUSS in Ekiti State.
“We appreciate the governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, for recruiting 7,600 teachers into his 9,000 Secondary School Tutors,” the communique reads. This is commendable because it promotes high-quality, practical education.
R“We applaud Kano State’s government for redeploying 11,000 trained teachers to schools through MDAs to improve teaching and learning. Oyo, Lagos, and the Delta States are also commended for their up-to-date teacher promotion.”
Despite the above incentives to teach, ASUSS was concerned about the country’s insecurity, particularly the constant attacks on schools that result in the murder and kidnapping of teachers and students for ransom.
“That the current insecurity transcends ethnicity and politics; and, for the umpteenth time, the union calls on governments at all levels to be sincere in dealing with security issues as it is their fundamental responsibility,” says the union.
“ASUSS strongly condemns recent student and parent harassment of teachers; case studies include Plateau State, where a student fatally stabbed a teacher, and Ekiti State, where a police officer arrived at his child’s school with a team of three other officers to harass the school principal and teachers, while the police authority has refused to act on ASUSS complaints.”
It went on to say that its members are inextricably committed to the organization’s goals of developing future leaders and that they will work tirelessly to achieve them in order to ensure the meaningful and robust development of education in Nigeria.
ASUSS urged the National Assembly to act quickly on the bills in order to energise better welfare packages for teachers, claiming that delaying action on the bills contradicts President Muhammadu Buhari’s position.
It stated: ” Other state governments should follow the lead of Kano and Adamawa States, which have passed legislation allowing teachers to work longer hours with immediate effect.
“That the union’s leadership is prepared to organize all secondary school tutors in order to scientifically pursue better welfare, improved terms and conditions of service, and to elevate members’ dignity.”
ASUSS called on all other states that have allegedly denied teachers their privileges, rights, and regular emoluments to do the right thing in order to relieve the burdens and pains that their members are experiencing.
