The National President of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Comrade Olukoya Alogba Michael has said the union demanded for primary education funding to be under the control of the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) instead of the local government to ensure regular payment of teachers’ salaries.
He stated this in an interview with Daily Trust in Abuja.
Michael explained that the NUT during the constitution amendment advocated for local government autonomy, but that primary education should not be attached to it.
According to him, the revenue accruable to local governments today may not be able to effectively manage primary education.
“So we said, in line with the constitution of this country, let’s have a central body that will coordinate the affairs of primary schools so that any Nigerian child in Sokoto, Yobe, Ibadan, Lagos, etc. will have the same curriculum, management and the terms and conditions of service of teachers should be the same. Unfortunately, the local government autonomy did not see the light of day.”
He urged the federal government to comply with the directive of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), directing governments all over the world to allocate 26 per cent of their total budgets towards education.
“Unfortunately, many states, including the Federal Government, are not doing this. And when this is not done, that is when we will continue to have infrastructural decay in the system. So I suggest that UNESCO’s directive should be adhered to.”
