Netizens Rally For Higher Teacher Salaries

Netizens advocate for a raise in salary remuneration for public school teachers. Individuals, including teachers, took to social media to propose an increase in the minimum wage.

This follows recent events where Alex Onyia, the Chairman of Educare, took to X to tweet @winexviv. Onyia emphasized the importance of elevating the miminum wage for teachers in public schools alonside a plea to halt the hiring of underqualified personnel. "Teachers' salaries in our public schools should be a minimum of 200,000 NGN monthly. We should also stop hiring third-class brains as public school teachers," he wrote.

Reacting to this, individuals emphasized that despite education being the basic foundation of national development, there is no scheme to improve its quality or increase the motivation of teachers who are tasked with shaping the future leaders of tomorrow. They pointed out that the minimum wage in some states is below 30,000 NGN and stressed the urgency of investing in their welfare.

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Mr. Onyia also highlighted that the recruitment process should be based on merit and not on political or personal favors, explaining that the quality of teachers in the public education system strongly influences student outcomes. He further stressed the need for the reintroduction of quality inspections in schools and emphasized that the inspection outcomes be made transparent to the public. 

Reacting to this, one user recounted his personal experience, stating, "I actually entered into teaching out of passion. But when I saw that schools are milking parents and not paying teachers, I learned to demand good pay or no teaching," he tweeted. Supporting his claim, fellow educators lamented the commercialization of education and emphasized the need for fair remuneration to sustain the profession.

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However, while acknowledging the urgency for change, individuals pointed out that a major revolution in the educational sector would be necessary to bring about the required change. "What you have called for will require a major revolution for it to happen. The status quo of our public education is so bad that it will need a complete and comprehensive overhaul, from political leadership to policies, systems, curriculum, infrastructure, administrators, and teachers," another Internet user added.