MY TAKE ON THE NEW NATIONAL TEACHING POLICY AS SIGNED AND APPROVED BY PRESIDENT BUHARI
October 13, 2020 | News
With regards to the recently announced new National Teaching Policy by the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government, which, amongst other things, included the establishment of a Special Salary Scale; Retirement by age is now 65; Retirement by service is now 40; I consider it necessary to comment on the said retirement age of 65 for teachers.
MY TAKE ON THE NEW NATIONAL TEACHING POLICY AS SIGNED AND APPROVED BY PRESIDENT BUHARI
With regards to the recently announced new National Teaching Policy by the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government, which, amongst other things, included the establishment of a Special Salary Scale; Retirement by age is now 65; Retirement by service is now 40; I consider it necessary to comment on the said retirement age of 65 for teachers.
In my own candid opinion, I believe the said new retirement age of 65 is uncalled for. I still believe that 60 years should be the appropriate age for retirement for all categories of Government workers in the country. This hinged on the fact that after 60 years, a person can't be that productive anymore within the labour system. Same way I have always reiterated the fact that the old generation of politicians should quit the nation’s political space to allow the younger qualified generation of Nigerian youths to take over the leadership of this country. It is sad that the only job the old politicians give to the youths are Special Assistants (SAs), Personal Assistants (PAs), etc. But I believe the qualified younger Nigerians have the innovative capacity, mental and intellectual digital capabilities to take over governance at different levels of Government.
Prolonged services are only required where we have shortage of manpower. But in the Nigeria situation, we have more than enough manpower in and outside the labour market. To the point that there are no jobs out there for our qualified Nigerian youths, many of whom have now resorted to migrating to places like Ghana, South-Africa, Libya, Europe, Asia and North America, in search of greener pastures, often at the risk of their lives.
Though, I agree with some of the introduced aspect of the said national policy of the teaching profession, especially the Establishment of a Special Salary Scale; Rural allowance to be provided; Automatic admission and tuition free for kids of Teachers at their place of work; Automatic recruitments of B.Ed graduating students. Etc., all of which would revitalize and reposition the teaching profession in the country, by attracting the best brains into the system and encourage teachers in delivering better services that would produce quality students who would, in turn, contribute to national development. But that of the increased age for retirement is out of place.
I believe the old people should be required to quit the stage when they are still relevant in terms of strength, mental capacity and stamina, so as to allow space to accommodate our qualified youths. The Government cannot add in the policy that there will be automatic recruitment of B.Ed graduates students, when on the other hand, they have increased the age of retirement of those in the teaching system. What is the sense in that?
All of these retirement at 65 and 70 in different professions, are unnecessary because Nigeria has more than enough manpower in all these professions. The older generation of Nigeria should quit the stage when the ovation is loudest, for the younger generation of Nigerians to come in.
In politics, the older generation of politicians have occupied the centre stage. Most of these above 60 years people can't even read a single line of their mails/texts. Most of these above 60 years old sleep when attending meetings. Yet, they don't want to quit/leave for the qualified younger Nigerians to take over. The retirement age should strictly be made 60 years for all categories of Government workers as far as I am concerned. Let them quit/leave for the qualified youths.
Zik Gbemre.
October 13, 2020.
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
With regards to the recently announced new National Teaching Policy by the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government, which, amongst other things, included the establishment of a Special Salary Scale; Retirement by age is now 65; Retirement by service is now 40; I consider it necessary to comment on the said retirement age of 65 for teachers.
In my own candid opinion, I believe the said new retirement age of 65 is uncalled for. I still believe that 60 years should be the appropriate age for retirement for all categories of Government workers in the country. This hinged on the fact that after 60 years, a person can't be that productive anymore within the labour system. Same way I have always reiterated the fact that the old generation of politicians should quit the nation’s political space to allow the younger qualified generation of Nigerian youths to take over the leadership of this country. It is sad that the only job the old politicians give to the youths are Special Assistants (SAs), Personal Assistants (PAs), etc. But I believe the qualified younger Nigerians have the innovative capacity, mental and intellectual digital capabilities to take over governance at different levels of Government.
Prolonged services are only required where we have shortage of manpower. But in the Nigeria situation, we have more than enough manpower in and outside the labour market. To the point that there are no jobs out there for our qualified Nigerian youths, many of whom have now resorted to migrating to places like Ghana, South-Africa, Libya, Europe, Asia and North America, in search of greener pastures, often at the risk of their lives.
Though, I agree with some of the introduced aspect of the said national policy of the teaching profession, especially the Establishment of a Special Salary Scale; Rural allowance to be provided; Automatic admission and tuition free for kids of Teachers at their place of work; Automatic recruitments of B.Ed graduating students. Etc., all of which would revitalize and reposition the teaching profession in the country, by attracting the best brains into the system and encourage teachers in delivering better services that would produce quality students who would, in turn, contribute to national development. But that of the increased age for retirement is out of place.
I believe the old people should be required to quit the stage when they are still relevant in terms of strength, mental capacity and stamina, so as to allow space to accommodate our qualified youths. The Government cannot add in the policy that there will be automatic recruitment of B.Ed graduates students, when on the other hand, they have increased the age of retirement of those in the teaching system. What is the sense in that?
All of these retirement at 65 and 70 in different professions, are unnecessary because Nigeria has more than enough manpower in all these professions. The older generation of Nigeria should quit the stage when the ovation is loudest, for the younger generation of Nigerians to come in.
In politics, the older generation of politicians have occupied the centre stage. Most of these above 60 years people can't even read a single line of their mails/texts. Most of these above 60 years old sleep when attending meetings. Yet, they don't want to quit/leave for the qualified younger Nigerians to take over. The retirement age should strictly be made 60 years for all categories of Government workers as far as I am concerned. Let them quit/leave for the qualified youths.
Zik Gbemre.
October 13, 2020.
We Mobilize Others To Fight For Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes