Subsidy: NUT, parents fault reduction in school days 

daysTeachers and parents have expressed reservations about moves by some state governments to reduce the number of school days in a week from five to three because of the high cost of living occasioned by the removal of subsidy on petrol, saying it would be counterproductive in the end.

They have therefore called on the government to look for other means of alleviating the sufferings of parents, teachers and students in the face of the high cost of living.

The teachers, under the aegis of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, spoke through the National Secretary, Dr Mike Ene, while the parents spoke through the National President of the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria, NAPTAN, Alhaji Haruna Danjuma, in different chats with Vanguard newspaper.

They were reacting to the decisions of Edo and Kwara states to reduce the working days for civil servants to three in the face of the new dispensation of no subsidy for petrol.

The Edo State government, specifically on Friday, through the Head of Service, Anthony Okungbowa, said the reduced office workdays would not affect the productivity and efficiency of the service.

The Edo SUBEB Chairman, Mrs Ozavize Salami, said the three-day work week would commence in the basic and junior secondary schools in Edo State on June 13, adding, “Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays have been chosen to be the days for our children to go to school while the school will be closed for the other two days.”One opined that while the government might see the reduction in school days as a leeway to curb the challenge of the high cost of transport, there was no way virtual class could replace physical classes.“Teacher-student relationship allows for people to understand better.

When a student sees the gestures of a teacher while being taught, he can learn better and moreover, students learn at different rates.

I think the government is looking for ways of compensating teachers, but that is not the best way.

“If they say virtual class for two days, what about internet connection for teachers and students in remote places? Also, what about the cost of data? Is is every student or teacher that has an internet-enabled computer or Android phone?” From experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, if 40 students log on to the virtual class and make their presence noticed at the beginning, by the time the lecture is over, you may be lucky if 15 followed up throughout the exercise. Some students will just make their presence known and go off to do other things,” he said.

Speaking in the same vein, Danjuma noted that it would be difficult for teachers to cover their syllabi within the time frame remaining..“Apart from being able to sustain the interest of students throughout a virtual class, how many parents can afford computers and Android phones for their children and wards?“If teachers are now compelled to compress their workloads into three school days, they will just be over burdened and the same goes for their students,” he stated.

The way outThe NUT scribe suggested that since the intention is to compensate teachers in view of recent developments, there are other ways of putting more money in their pockets.

“Let the government give teachers that will be going to work five days a week some incentives and allowances.

Even those that are to work virtually should be given money for data. No good teacher wants to render services that will be termed under-productive.

Surely, teachers must be assisted this time around, but we must do it in a way that will not bring the quality of our education down,” Ene noted.

On his part, Danjuma stated, “Since the main issue here is transport for teachers and students, the government should float special transport service for teachers and students.

If they can be taken to and fro schools at relatively cheaper rates, then, that is okay.”