The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, on Friday vowed to resist moves by the Federal Government to stop the payment of salaries of teachers of University Demonstration Primary Schools.
The union’s National Vice-President, Eastern region, Leku Ador, led members in their hundreds to stage a protest at the University of Port Harcourt campus in Choba, Rivers.
The SSANU leader said they were protesting a circular which directed Vice-Chancellors of federal universities to stop accommodating UDPS teachers in universities emolument structure.
“Recently, we received a circular from the Federal Ministry of Education with intent to disengage from the funding of UDPS in the country.
“National Salaries and Wages Commission together with the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) and the Ministry of Education were part of our negotiation in SSANU-Federal Government 2009 agreement.
“This agreement contained, among others, that government will continue to fund UDPS-Staff schools in our various federal universities”, he said.
According to the union, the move by the Federal Government to stop funding of the schools would result to a hike in school fees and sack of teachers as private operators of the schools, might not retain them.
Mr. Ador said university lecturers, other staff members and indigenes from host communities send their children and wards to the UDPS as its fees are affordable.
He also queried why government would withdraw funding for the UDPS and not extend same to Command schools of the Navy, Army, Air Force and Unity Schools.
“Teachers in Demonstration Primary Schools have the same appointment letters like other staff in the university, and so, why would government single them out and leave others?
“Command schools which take far more funding from the Federal Government are not in that report which only points to marginalisation of our teachers.
“It will be wrong for government to reduce cost of governance by retrenching workers, especially when salary and allowance of one parliamentarian is equivalent to salaries of 100 teachers combined”, he said.
Mr. Ador, therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to wade into the matter by directing the Federal Ministry of Education to rescind the circular, warning that failure to do so would force the union’s National Executive Committee to convene a meeting that might lead to total withdrawal of their services from tertiary institutions.
“The industrial action which will be unprecedented, will not only affect students and the education sector, but will question President Buhari’s promise of creating employment for Nigerians”, the labour leader said.
Some teachers, who spoke to a correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), expressed displeasure with the move by the Federal Ministry of Education.
The teachers (names withheld) who were emotionally shaken by the development, said life would be difficult if they were retrenched from work.
The post SSANU Threatens Strike Over FG Circular To Stop Paying University Primary Schools’ Teachers appeared first on INFORMATION NIGERIA.
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