Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, and his Kwara State counterpart, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, have declared Monday a work-free day for teachers in both public and private schools across the states in commemoration of this year’s World Teachers’ Day.
In a statement by the Osun State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr. Kolapo Alimi, Governor Adeleke said the gesture was meant to show solidarity with teachers in the state on the annual occasion.
Alimi explained that the decision to declare a holiday to mark World Teachers’ Day was in recognition of the invaluable contributions of teachers to the growth of the education sector, not just in Osun State and Nigeria, but globally.
Quoting Governor Adeleke’s message to the teachers, the statement read in part: “I, Senator Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke, the Executive Governor of Osun State, heartily congratulate all teachers around the world, particularly those in my dear state, Osun, on the annual occasion of World Teachers’ Day, celebrated every 5th of October.
“While it gladdens my heart and that of my administration to declare tomorrow (Monday) a public holiday across Osun State, I urge all teachers to use the one-day public holiday as an opportunity to reflect on the past, present, and future development of the state’s education sector.
“I want to reiterate that my administration will continue to do everything morally and officially possible to put smiles on your faces and ensure your satisfaction as the purveyors of knowledge in our dear state, Osun.
“Please accept my best wishes and congratulations on the occasion of World Teachers’ Day”.
Similarly, a statement by the Kwara State Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Hajia Sa’adatu Modibbo-Kawu, on Sunday said that all public and private schools in the state would not open for work in honour of the teachers today (Monday).
The statement said that the Governor AbdulRazaq commended teachers for what they do to advance human progress through quality teaching and nurturing of minds.
“The governor directs that this holiday be enjoyed by teachers in the public and private sector as a mark of appreciation for what they do”, Modibbo-Kawu said.
Meanwhile, he Parents/Teachers Association of Nigeria, Kwara State branch, has urged the state government to improve the condition of service of teachers in the state, by giving them their rights.
The Chairman of the Kwara PTA branch, High Chief Ibrahim Oniye, appealed in Ilorin, the state capital, during his goodwill message at the 2024 World Teachers Day organised by the state wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT).
The chairman, who is the Makama of Ilorin Emirate, while enumerating the role of teachers in nation-building, described them as an important instrument in the training of human beings.
He said apart from home training, teachers were next in training the youth, adding that without proper mentorship, the youth would not be properly shaped to run the country’s affairs.
“It is on this background that I want to call on those heading the education agencies in the state, including the Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board, Teaching Service Commission and the Special Adviser on Labour, who are all present in this gathering, to put heads together and meet the governor to give teachers their rights”, Oniye said.
Earlier in his speech, the state Chairman of NUT, Yusuf Agboola, commended Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for prompt payment of teachers’ salaries and cash backing of promotion of secondary school teachers for 2021 and 2022 and approval of 2023 and 2024 promotion of TESCOM teachers.
Agboola appealed to the government to correct the implementation of the 27.5 per cent and 21 per cent teachers specific allowance for Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria-certificated and non-certificated teachers respectively in the state.
He also urged the government to pay the November 2023 palliative allowance to all teachers as well as redemption of compensation to teachers for working for five days when other categories of workers in the state were working for three days.
Agboola also called for recruiting more teachers for senior secondary schools to replace teachers who retired between 2022 and 2024.
The NUT chairman appealed to the governor to key into the 65/40 years harmonised retirement age approved by the Federal Government for teachers.
In her lecture, titled “Valuing Teacher Voices: Towards a New Social Contract for Education”, Dr Muhinat Bello of the University of Ilorin urged the government to target classroom teachers as beneficiaries of its training so that the impact would be felt at the grassroots.
The State Chairman of TESCOM, Alhaji Tauheed Bello, who represented the governor at the event, promised to deliver the message of the NUT to the governor.
