Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, has promised to begin payment of N30,000 minimum wage to all qualified teachers in primary schools in the state.
A statement by the spokesman of the governor on Tuesday, Mallam Isa Gusau lamented that some teachers in the state currently go home monthly with as low as N11,000 due to activities of ghost teachers.
Gusau disclosed that his principal made the promise on Monday at the Government House in Maiduguri, while inaugurating reconstituted board of the Borno State Universal Basic Education Board.
The board, which has a new Executive Chairman, permanent and non-permanent members, had a reconstitution necessitated by expiration of tenures served by former members of the UBE board.
The reconstituted board has Professor Bulama Kagu as the Executive Chairman, Hon. Abubakar Mai Deribe as permanent member 1, Alhaji Sadiq Abdallah as permanent member 2 and Habu Daja Aliyu as permanent member 3, alongside representatives of stakeholder ministries.
Zulum said during the occasion, “One major issue in Borno’s primary education system today is the welfare of teachers. It is pathetic that there are teachers who are still collecting between N13,000 and N11,000. I want to assure, that despite economic challenges, we are working to ensure that every qualified teacher in Borno State earns minimum of N30,000 which is the national minimum wage.”
The governor also said a number of unqualified teachers identified during assessments, who are trainable, will be sent for professional teachers training, to acquire skills and methodologies that can help them teach effectively.
He, however, noted that those that are not trainable will be transferred to other departments as non-academic staffs in schools.
Zulum ruled out retrenchment including for those untrainable teachers, so as not to increase an already high unemployment rate with social implications.
In another development, Zulum at the same event also inaugurated the Chairman and members of a newly established Borno State Audit Service Commission.
The Board is headed by Alhaji Ibrahim Mohammed Lawalam with Auditor General of the State, Auditor General for Local Government, Alhaji Mohammed Kauji, Zannah Lawan Mustapha and Zannah Dalatu Shettima Kullima as members.
The governor noted that the commission was established to sanitise governance process from all forms of financial indiscipline and ensure adherence to all financial regulations and extant laws for effective management of public resources.