Despite N34 Billion Education Budgetary Allocation 19,000 Borno Teachers Embark On Indefinite strike Over Unpaid Salary
Despite N34 Billion education budgetary allocation 19,000 primary school teachers in Borno State have today embark on Indefinite strike over wages.
The teachers who had in time past defied the ongoing Boko Haram crises which left some of their colleagues killed while some schools were attacked and burnt down decided to down tools over failure of the state government to implement and pay up their new N18,000 minimum wage .
Pointblanknews.com recalled that the state Governor Alhaji Kashim Shettima had in his quest to revamp the dying education sector, declared state of emergency and immediately jack up students scholarship as well as improving School feeding system in the state.
But sadly, the governor’s wish was however thwarted by primary schools teachers who in a circular issued by the state wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) co-signed by the Chairman, Comrade Bulama Abiso alongside his Publicity Secretary, Comrade Usman Kachalla, instructed all teachers in the state “to commence Sit-at-home Strike with effect from 1st June.
The NUT officials however appealed to the state government to avoid a situation where the education sector would be paralysed as a result of the strike by paying the minimum wage.
According to Comrade Abiso, ” the state government has assured teachers on various occasions that government will clear all out standing arrears of teachers by February at the same time finished the Bio-Metric data capturing after which the new minimum wage will be implemented to all teachers in Primary schools in the state by March 2013, but failed in her promises”.
Though the union said it appreciate the good rapport that exists between the government and the teachers in the state, it has no option but to join the national body in the indefinite.
‘We have given the state government three weeks notice to pay up all teachers their minimum wage in arrears or risk pupils staying at home, but we received no response’, the NUT Wing chairman said.