President Muhammadu Buhari has endorsed the plan for a new retirement age for teachers in the public sector.
Minister of education Adamu Adamu made this known on Wednesday at a public hearing on the need to insulate teachers from the retirement age for public servants organised by the House Joint Committee on Basic Education and Public Service.
The retirement age is to be moved from 60 years to 65 years to allow for further improvement in the standard of basic and secondary education in the country.
Mr Adamu informed the House joint committee that the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) had submitted the new retirement age proposal to the ministry and the National Assembly for approval.
He added that the drive was based on the need for better performance by teachers and the desire to have quality teachers in the nation’s schools.
“Nigerian teachers to some extent require a reasonable retirement age like their counterparts in India, Canada, Belgium that have increased the retirement age for teachers to 65 years.
“We are appealing to the House to approve the bill because the ministry is in support of increasing the retirement age of teachers,” the minister said.
Chairman House Committee on Basic Education Zakari Mohammed also said that the bill being considered for passage seeks to absolve teachers from the public service rule which sets the retirement age for government workers at 60 and peg a new retirement age of 65.
“Teachers are the bedrock of any nation and as such their wealth of experience must be tapped to enhance the well-being of society.
“How long should we tap that knowledge legitimately in the school system is the question we expect to answer today,” Mr Mohammed said.
