Teachers deserve better

On Monday, October 5, 2026, the world marked World Teachers’ Day (WTD). The day, which is not a public holiday in Nigeria, provided an opportunity for stakeholders to discuss teachers’ working conditions and career prospects. In 1994, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in conjunction with the International Labour Organization (ILO), proclaimed October 5 as World Teachers’ Day. The day is traced to October 5, 1966, when a special intergovernmental conference convened by UNESCO in Paris adopted the UNESCO/ILO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. The official theme for the 2026 WTD was “Standing with Teachers: 60 Years of Protecting the Profession, Advancing Its Status and Shaping Our Futures.”

Speaking at a ceremony in Abuja to commemorate this year’s event and present the President’s Teachers and Schools Excellence Awards (PTSEA), the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, pledged that the Nigerian government would sustain and increase investment in teachers’ welfare, training and professional development. He added that recognition of their contributions should translate into lasting support. Alausa said teachers deserved professional respect, career-long development opportunities, adequate resources, fair recognition and good working conditions.

Addressing the impact of technology, Alausa noted that artificial intelligence was changing how knowledge was accessed and used. He stressed that although such tools could help teachers reach learners and tailor instruction, “the judgement, encouragement and human connection of a skilled teacher remain indispensable.” He said teachers must be adequately equipped to use new tools responsibly and confidently while safeguarding the standards and values of the profession.

Alausa’s address to mark the 2026 WTD was more ceremonial than inspiring, offering little or no hope of strategic government policies to invest in teachers, even though the administration of late President Muhammadu Buhari had laid a foundation for such investment. At the 2020 WTD celebration, the Federal Government announced a groundbreaking package of incentives intended to improve teachers’ welfare and make the profession more attractive.

The incentives included extending teachers’ years of service from 35 to 40 and raising their retirement age from 60 to 65. Section 1 of the Act provides that teachers may retire from pensionable service upon attaining either of the two limits, whichever comes first. On April 8, 2022, President Buhari signed the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers in Nigeria Act, 2022, into law. Other incentives included a special salary scale for teachers in basic and secondary schools, rural posting and science teachers’ allowances, other special allowances, and the reintroduction of bursary awards for education students in universities and colleges of education.

Except for the revised retirement age, which many states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), are implementing in modified forms, none of the other incentives is being implemented by most states. Had this package of incentives been faithfully implemented since its announcement, the longstanding low status of teachers and the embarrassing reports of their poor welfare might have become a thing of the past. Indeed, many states are facing serious teacher welfare crises.

The deliberate neglect of teachers’ welfare by state governments through their failure to implement the approved incentives exposes Nigeria’s basic education system to unstable academic calendars, frequently disrupted by teachers’ strikes. This points to a bleak future not only for the country’s education sector but also for Nigeria as a whole. Given the increase in government revenue in recent years, the funds needed to implement the package of incentives approved under the Buhari administration should be available.

The new retirement age for teachers, which the Federal Government signed into law about four years ago, remains a subject of discussion in many states. In Niger State, for example, a law providing for the new retirement age was passed only last week and is yet to receive the governor’s assent. Meanwhile, teachers do not enjoy corresponding financial benefits from promotions because their net salaries remain unchanged despite such advancements.

The teachers’ welfare crisis is even worse in the FCT, where the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), in solidarity with FCT teachers, is currently observing an indefinite strike over the “no vacancy for teachers” policy of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike. Following the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum, the FCT Council of the NLC, on October 7, 2026, directed workers in both the private and public sectors to withdraw their services. In Ebonyi State, the chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) called on the government on World Teachers’ Day to settle outstanding arrears of entitlements owed to teachers.

If a country’s future depends substantially on the quality and commitment of its teachers, whose pupils will become its future leaders, then their ill-treatment by the government amounts to putting the future of today’s learners at risk. Governments must, therefore, take teachers’ welfare seriously. Their salaries and other entitlements should be paid promptly, without arrears or the need for strikes. Teachers are not asking for anything beyond their legitimate entitlements. The neglect of their welfare must stop.