Atiku speaks on education, ASUU strike, teachers’ salaries

Former vice president of Nigeria and Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has reaffirmed the need for government at all levels to provide the country’s education system better management.

This statement was issued by the former vice president in honor of World Teachers’ Day, which is observed every year on October 5.

Atiku expressed sadness that education does not receive the the attention it deserves from all stakeholders during the launching of the S.H.E Initiative office in Abuja on Wednesday.

The former vice president claims that the inadequate administration of the education sector, which is reflected in teachers’ low pay and the consequent long-term industrial strikes by teachers, cannot lead to the kind of progress and development that we as a nation want to see.

Atiku continued, “With the poverty line expanding across all age groupings, investing in education is the best course to take. Education makes it more simpler for people to build wealth and make decisions that will improve their families’ and society’s quality of life.

“The existing practice of placing education at the bottom of our investment priority ladder not only undermines itself, but it also poses a danger to national security.

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Atiku claimed that despite their subpar working conditions in many places, teachers have persisted to make their fair share of contributions to the development of the country.

“No Nation can rise higher than the quality of its education system, and no education system can grow higher than the quality of its teachers,” the Waziri of Adamawa reaffirmed.

To this aim, he stated that unless and until we have qualified and enthusiastic instructors, progress and development may continue to elude us as a country.

He referred to the situation where some governments owe teachers’ salary for months as unacceptable and noted that it is detrimental to our development goals.

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If elected president in the upcoming election, he made a strong commitment to cooperate with state governments to address the needs of teachers and, in fact, the entire education system.