Teachers’ retirement age raised to 65

Nigeria:

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on Thursday said
the Muhammadu Buhari administration was in support of
raising the retirement age for teachers from 60 to 65 years.
The minister made this known 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 minister said that it would be a means of improving 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 said 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,” he said.
Earlier, the chairman House Committee on Basic Education,
Zakari Mohammed, said that the bill was being considered for
passage.

He says the bill seeks to absolve teachers from the public
service rule which sets the retirement age for government
workers at 60, and set for them a new retirement age of 65.
According to the chairman, teachers are the bedrock of any
nation and as such their wealth of experience must be tapped
into to enhance the well being of society.

Mr Mohammed said apart from the bill to extend the
retirement age for teachers, the House was also considering
to amend the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria Act to
strengthen its regulatory powers to promote professionalism
and eradicate quacks.

Also, the deputy chairman, House Committee on Public
Service, Adekoya Abdel-Majid, described teachers as
professionals who laid the foundation for a nation’s
economic, technological and social development.
Mr Abdel-Majid said the more years a teacher spent on the
job, the better he delivered his services to the learners based
on experiences gathered over the years and the wisdom of
age.

Some of those present at the hearing to support the passage
of the bills were the Parent Teachers Association (PTA),
Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), Nigerian
Teachers Institute (NTI) and the Universal Basic Education
Commission (UBEC). (NAN)