…Govt Already Addressing The Issue —Ashibogwu
BY JUMAI NWACHUKWU/RITA OYIBOKA
THE Delta State Wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has declared its readiness to serve a formal strike ultimatum notice to the state government over what it called, “the continued stagnation of graduate teachers in the primary school system”.
Speaking, yesterday, during an interview at the NUT Secretariat in Asaba, the State Secretary of the Union, Comrade Dan Basime, expressed the union’s growing frustration at what he described as the continued neglect of graduate primary school teachers.
“We issued a communiqué at the end of our last State Executive Council meeting. In that communiqué to the state government, we made our position very clear on several key issues. The most pressing one was the stagnation of graduate teachers in the primary school system,” he said.
While commending the state government for recently addressing the selective promotion of secondary school teachers to Level 17, Basime highlighted that the stagnation of graduate teachers in primary schools remained unresolved.
“Initially, university graduate teachers were stopping at level 16, with only a few handpicked for promotion to level 17. It was not just an issue for primary school. Thankfully, the state government has now responded to that issue. All affected secondary school teachers have been promoted to level 17. We commend the state government for that swift action,” he said.
Basime, however, criticised the government for what he described as an attempt to wrong-foot the union by suddenly moving the school resumption date to April 28.
“The communiqué we issued is not just for show. We are preparing to follow up with a formal ultimatum. Once we issue that, everyone will know when the countdown ends and when the strike action will commence, if our demands are not met,” he warned.
He reaffirmed that the union adheres strictly to legal procedures in its operations. “We don’t just declare a strike. Our head office is always well informed. We ensure the Registrar of Trade Unions at the Ministry of Labouris notified. Everything is done according to the law. We do not operate haphazardly.
“The NUT is now ready to issue a formal ultimatum to the state government. We have the machinery. We’re tracking everything and our members. We’re not backing down,” the union leader asserted.
Reacting to the ultimatum, the Commissioner for Primary Education, Dr Kingsley Ashibogwu, in a phone conversation with The Pointer, assured that the Ministry was working closely with the Chairman, Delta State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to ensure that the situation was addressed.
“We have set up a committee on the issue, and further resolution will be communicated as due, but for now, they should not embark on the strike”, he said.
