The Delta Government said it released about N1 billion for the settlement of all outstanding emoluments of teachers in the state, including the 27.5 per cent teachers peculiar allowance.
Prof. Patrick Muoboghare, the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, in the state, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba on Friday.
Muoboghare was reacting to the Aug. 31, deadline given to the state government by the teachers to implement the peculiar allowance scheme.
He said the teachers were being unfair to the government in making such demand.
According to him, the government has provided everything, personal to the teachers and to schools, and what is left is for them to reciprocate with commitment to duty and dedicated conduct.
He recalled that the teachers commended and prayed for Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan when he announced the release of the funds to pay all outstanding bills of the teachers and implement pending issues, recently.
The state wing of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) had given the state government up till Aug. 31, to implement the 27.5 per cent teachers’ special salary and release the promotion of some principals to grade level 17.
The union, which held an executive council meeting in Asaba, also called for the stoppage of stagnation of primary school teachers with university degrees on grade level 14.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, the teachers also urged the governor to immediately remove the Basic and Secondary Education commissioner.
The union accused the commissioner of making “unbecoming pronouncement and displaying overbearing attitude”.
The teachers contended that Muoboghare’s removal would restore peace and progress in the state’s education system.
Dismissing the issues raised by the teachers, Muoboghare said, “They have no demand. I am sure that before the governor appointed me and indeed, other commissioners, he probably consulted God to guide him.
“I am sure that I am overbearing because of my insistence that teachers must be transferred and evenly distributed around the state, especially to the rural areas.
“My attitude is also overbearing, because I say that it is unacceptable for communities to employ and pay teachers while those employed by government abandon their jobs and still get paid.
“If my insistence that teachers in the state should prepare lesson notes as demanded by their professional training has made my attitude unbecoming, it is left for the governor to decide.” (NAN)