The government will pay N75,000 to each student in public universities studying education programmes per semester, it has said.
Adamu Adamu, the Minister of Education, announced this on Tuesday in Abuja at the 2021 annual World Teacher’s Day celebrations. Students of colleges of education will receive N50,000 per semester, Adamu added.
He said this plan is aimed at encouraging more Nigerians students to choose teaching as a career.
“Undergraduate students of B.Ed/B.A. Ed/BSc. Ed in Public institutions are to receive stipends of N75,000.00 per semester while NCE students will get N50,000.00 as stipends per semester.
“Federal Government should find the modality through which respective states’ governments could provide automatic employment for NCE graduates at basic education level. In commemoration of the World Teachers Day on October 5, 2020 President Muhammadu Buhari had approved a special salary structure for teachers in the country, just as he also increased the number of years of service of teachers from 35 to 40,” said Adamu, who was represented by the permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Sonny Echono.
According to the minister, there will be a Special Salary Scale for Teachers in Basic and Secondary Schools, “including provisions for rural posting allowance, science teachers allowance and peculiar allowance”.
He also promised to build low-cost housing for teachers in rural areas, sponsorship to at least one refresher training per annum to benchmark best practices for improved teaching and learning as well as the reintroduction of bursary award to education students in Universities and Colleges of Education with the assurance of automatic employment upon graduation.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who was represented by Minister of State for Education, Honourable Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, restated his commitment to improving the welfare of teachers and repositioning the teaching profession in Nigeria. He directed the minister to ensure full implementation of the government’s policies in the sector.
In his speech read b Nwajiuba, the president said that “The 2020 World Teachers Day in Nigeria was phenomenal as all that is needed to invigorate and revitalize the teaching profession was packaged and the Honourable Minister of Education was mandated to implement accordingly.
“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 and education officers. Guidelines to ensure seamless implementation have been negotiated and outstanding salaries of affected teachers will soon be paid before December 2021.
“I salute the Nigerian teachers and education officers who kept faith with the profession over the years despite the obvious challenges,” he said.
