By Grace Udofia
President of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) Nasir Idris, has charged teachers in the country to embrace the use of technology in education to ensure that no student is left behind.
In his address to teachers who gathered at the Eagles Square Abuja on Tuesday to mark the World Teachers Day celebration, Idris while appreciating teachers, stated that the COVID-19 crisis has expanded the role of teachers and placed greater burden on them.
According to him they were challenged to appreciate the new normal embrace the use of technology in education, build their capacities, be resilient, creative and innovative to be able to meet the new trends and challenges of the rapidly changing world.
He said, “The theme of this year’s World Teachers’ Day, “Teachers at the heart of education recovery” is apt considering the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the Education Sector, and the attendant challenges teachers have to face and confront to ensure effective delivery of education to all learners around the World.
“To keep teaching and learning on-going, teachers had to adopt remote or distance learning methods, and to ensure that no learner is left behind.
“They also took up the duty to assess and identify learning losses and applied recovery measures such as accelerated learning programmes to reduce learning gaps.
“This means that teachers need to be adequately equipped, empowered and supported to be effective in carrying out the task of education recovery, and to meet the learning needs of all learners including the underprivileged, disadvantaged and other vulnerable children, especially the girl child”.
On the Implementation of National Minimum Wage:
He added that, “The NUT observes with dismay that some State Governments are yet to implement the provisions of the National Minimum Wage Act for teachers since it was signed into law in 2018. We herewith call on the erring State Governments to implement the National Minimum Wage without further delay”.
On payment of salaries of primary school teachers, he said “The NUT regrets to observe that primary school teachers’ salaries are not being paid as and when due in some States.
“We, therefore, call on the National Assembly in the on-going 4th Alteration Act on the 1999 Constitution, to provide for the funding of Basic Education through First Line Charge”.
