Teachers in military schools across the country have decried the non-payment of their salaries.
The teachers, who are on elongation, said they were being owed 15 months’ salaries after extending their years of service.
The Federal Executive Council in January 2021 approved 65 years and 40 years as the new retirement age and years of service, respectively for teachers in the country.
This made some teachers who had retired and were within the stipulated age and service year to return to work.
Sunday PUNCH reports that military schools under the Federal Ministry of Defence, like its counterparts in the Ministry of Education, engaged the services of the elongation teachers.
Our correspondent gathered that while the teachers under the Ministry of Defence were being owed, their counterparts in the Education Ministry had been receiving their salaries as and when due.
It was further gathered that the affected teachers under the Federal Ministry of Defence wrote to the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, in October 2023, seeking his intervention for the payment of their owed salaries, but all efforts were yet to materialise.
A few of the affected teachers said they might boycott classes if the situation persists.
One of them, who joined in April 2021, told our correspondent on the condition of anonymity that the delayed payment had brought untold hardship to her.
The teacher said, “How do you want people to cope during this period without being paid what they worked for? This is unfair to us. I don’t think I can continue like this. We have colleagues who are under the Ministry of Education. They are not being owed a dime. Why is ours different? What did we do wrong?”
Another teacher said she might not be resuming school unless her 15 months’ salary arrears were cleared.
She said, “I don’t think I will be resuming with them. Let them pay our money. Even if they don’t need us again, let them pay us. We are all in this country together. We need our money to settle some things.
“It is unheard of to owe people during this harsh economy. It is more painful that nobody is communicating with us on what is causing the delays and what is being to settle us.”
Calls to the number of the Ministry of Defence Spokesperson, Henshaw Ogubike, were not answered.
He also did not respond to a message sent to him on the matter as of the time of filing this report.
Credit: PUNCH