BY SAMIE WAIKORI
Teachers and nurses are the only faces of government can be seeing right in the rural areas across the country, though there are presence of other reach of government services.
And despite the immense contribution of these sectors to the development of the country, they continue to face significant challenges that to some extent, brought setback to the services provided.
In the education sector, the restructure of teachers’ salary is at the core of important issues teachers have been faced for decades.
The national government, however, recognised the matter by coming up with a new teachers’ salary structure, but teachers are still waiting for its implementation.
This week, Opposition Leader, Matthew Wale questioned the GNUT on the undertaking and other proposed government policies to strengthen and improve education services in the country.
He said in education, the new teachers’ salary structure, though finalized, remains unimplemented.
Wale added the reviewed of School Education Grant Policy has not translated into tangible support for schools.
He echoed that the much-needed School Infrastructure Development Plan sits idle, with no improvements yet felt on the ground.
Wale furthered the Tertiary Student Loan Scheme, announced by His Excellency again in 2025, to widen access to higher education, remains non-operational.
Moreover, the leader said the critical reforms such as the review of the SITESA Act and the TVET legislative framework are still incomplete.
He said during the inquiry into the 2024 actual expenditure, the PEC discovered that the scholarships budget alone was underspent by about 70m, when many students were eligible for awards.
“In fact, the total underspend in education could more than fund SINU and make all its programmes free to all students, subject to academic entry requirements.
“It seems government is uninterested in these things. Yet these are the initiatives that are more likely to produce strategic change and gain across society and in the economy,” Wale said.
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