Dark Clouds Over Staff Schools As FG Stops Workers’ Salaries

Photo: Members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria during a protest in Ilorin, Kwara State... on Thursday | credits: Success Nwogu

Uncertainty now pervades staff primary schools in universities across the country as the Federal Government moves to stop universities from offsetting personnel costs, Punch reports.

A school teacher, Mrs. Olanrewaju Adeoye, has earned a living at the Staff School of the University of Lagos for 28 years. Now, her source of livelihood is being threatened.

Indeed, Adeoye and other teachers working in 24 Staff primary schools across the country may soon find themselves in the job market if the Federal Government makes good its threat to stop paying the salaries of workers in staff primary schools of federal universities.

The Federal Ministry of Education recently issued a circular with an attached report from the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission, recommending that “Agencies which have been funding the personnel costs of staff primary schools in the federal budget should be advised to stop that practice with immediate effect. A service-wide circular should be issued by the commission directing federal public establishments that have staff schools not to fund their personnel budget from the treasury.’’

Expectedly, the development has been causing ripples among teachers and parents who will be affected. Leading the battle, however, is the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, the umbrella body for all university workers, which has vowed to resist the actualisation of the directive.

Uneasy calm pervaded the premises of the University of Lagos Staff Primary School when one of our correspondents visited there on Wednesday. In an interview, Adeoye lamented what would become of her and the pupils.

“What it means is that we (teachers) will be out of job and the pupils sent away. One will expect that this kind of directive will never see the light of the day, but it has happened and we are all apprehensive. We are more than 80 teachers because there is still another branch at Idi-Araba. Where do we go from here? We all have children and other dependents,’’ she said.

Another teacher who has been with the school since 1987, Mr. Samuel Osemeuno, said that rather than closing the school, parents should be told to pay a token to take the burden off the Federal Government that ultimately funds federal universities.

“I agree that parents should pay something. What obtains right now is that the children of the staff of the school pay N5,000 development fee in a year while the children of non-staff who come from outside pay N25,000 as school fees. Allowing the parents to contribute is a better option because many teachers will lose their jobs if the universities stop paying our salaries,’’ he said.

Findings by one of our correspondents have, however, shown that Osemeuno may be on his own as SSANU has threatened a showdown with the government on the issue.

In a nationwide protest that started on Monday, the union kicked against what it described as an attempt to privatise the schools. Scores of SSANU members, on Thursday, gathered at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State in a protest, urging the government to rescind the decision to avoid forcing them into embarking on a strike.

Vice-President, SSANU, Western Zone, Mr.. Alfred Jimoh, said the protesters did not target the authorities of UNILORIN, but they were against a circular currently sent to universities.

“The content of that circular is highly offensive in the sense that it is calling our members in our various staff schools of the universities, who were duly employed by the councils of their various universities, ghost workers.

“This, to us, as a union, is highly offensive. Apart from the fact these people have the appointment letters of their councils, which have not been withdrawn, the union in 2009 had an agreement with the Federal Government.

--PUNCH