A governorship hopeful in Ekiti state on the platform of PDP, Amb Dare Bejide, has traced inability of some states to pay salaries to age-long reliance on proceeds from oil revenue and failure to look inward.
He said he would boost the internally generated revenue and improve the infrastructure with a view to better the lot of the people.
Bejide stated this on Thursday in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, during a meeting with some senior teachers.
Promising teachers a better day, the aspirant, represented by the Director General, Ambassador Dare Bejide Campaign Organization (ADBCO), Dr. Kunle Folayan, promised to defend the rights of teachers, if elected as governor.
He urged government at all levels to ensure that education is given priority in development adding that Nigeria should learn from the experience of developed countries where the remuneration of teachers towers above many other professions.
He said: “An instructive experience was that of Germany where President Angela Merkel recently rebuffed agitations of top public servants for higher wages than what teachers earn, by saying she would not pay them salaries higher than those of the teachers who taught them in school.
"Research has shown that teachers are the most important school-based factor in determining student achievement. Comprehensive teacher effectiveness reform must include bringing accountability to teacher preparation."
The governorship hopeful pledged that teachers in the state would enjoy better support from his government, if voted into power, because teachers are important in the development of the society.
Bejide however called on the federal government to look at the challenges facing teachers from a national perspective in order to get the required attention in proffering solutions to the problems.
Earlier in his address, the leader of the teachers group who craved anonymity expressed concern over the current economic challenges, saying that workers and teachers in particular are the worst hit by the present economic crisis which according to him has resulted to inability of government to pay teachers’ salaries.
He therefore urged the Federal Government to take over the responsibilities of funding primary education as the finance of the local government is over-burdened and cannot cope with such responsibilities.
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