Members of Bauchi NASU protesting
By Akanji Alowolodu, Bauchi
Members of the Bauchi State branch of Non- Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) on Wednesday embarked on a peaceful protest over what they described as preferential treatment among the unions operating in the education sector of the country particularly the primary and post primary sectors.
The NASU Bauchi branch lamented that though every stakeholder is contributing to the development of the education sector, a section of the unions was treated above the other a development they said is dividing the membership and must be corrected immediately.
The members therefore called on the Federal Government to as a matter of fairness, include Non-Teaching staff in the approved special teacher’s pension scheme and conditions of service.
Speaking to Journalists shortly after going round major streets in Bauchi, Secretary of NASU, Danjuma Jibrin, explained that the peaceful protest became necessary in order to let government be aware of the development.
He said that, “The union is calling on the Federal Government to include Non-Teaching staff in the approved special teachers scheme. This is to guarantee better welfare for us in retirement and also extend our retirement age to 65 years and length of service to 40 years as the case may be”.
He further lamented that Non-Teaching staff in the school system were excluded from the gesture as announced by the FG stressing that, “We remind the government that teachers are not the only workers in schools who work with a diverse range of Non-Teaching professionals staff in the basic and post-primary schools,”.
The Union also called on state and federal governments to provide motivation and training programmes for Non-Teaching staff with a view to change productivity positively for the development of the sector.
The Secretary further urged the Federal Government to also provide loan facilities such as Agricultural, housing, vehicles among others to members of NASU in order to promote better productivity.
He also pointed out the need for the Federal Government should bridge the gap between the Non-Teaching staff teachers in the post and primary school system.
NASU then commended Bauchi State Government for the huge investment in the education sector since coming on board in 2019 stressing that the narrative has changed positively saying however that it could get better with more motivation.
