Why we wore black dresses during celebration, by union leader

THE Chairman of Cross River State chapter of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Eyo-Nsa Eyo Itam, has explained why teachers in the state wore black dresses during the World Teachers’ Day celebration.

“There has been a lot of ill-treatment meted out to teachers in the state. So, we all had to wear black. For us in Cross River State, it is a Black World Teachers’ Day,” he said.

The union leader spoke in Calabar, the state capital, during the global celebration of the event.

Listing some of the alleged ill-treatment teachers suffered in the state, Itam said they include non-implementation of two years promotion of school principals or head teachers, among others.

“The long delay in the implementation is grossly affecting the productivity of those affected.

“Again, our teachers’ names, over 1,000 of them, were dropped from payroll, making it impossible for them to collect their September salaries, even though they had worked for the month,” he said.

Itam also said teachers were affected by non-release of July 2017 secondary school check-off dues.

The NUT leader urged the government to release the dues to avoid any confrontation with affected teachers.

He condemned the handing over of schools in the state to the missionary, saying: “The NUT observes with great concern steps taken by the government to hand over some public schools to the missions and view this act as a serious violation of the Education Act on Compulsory Free Universal Education 2004.

“Therefore, we are calling on the government to live up to expectation on its provision of free, compulsory and sustainable education for the child.”

Governor Ben Ayade recently announced the handing over of six schools in the state to their original owners, mainly the missionaries.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Mrs. Aniedi Bassey Ekpeyong, who represented the state government at the event, described teachers as the pride of a nation.

She assured the NUT that the government was addressing some of the issues they raised, adding: “I will certainly forward all your grievances to the appropriate quarters.”

Ekpeyong enjoined the teachers to always see dialogue as the best option for resolving trade union matters.