REVEALED: Federal Government May Settle Salary Arrears Of Private Schools In Nigeria 1
Education

REVEALED: Federal Government May Settle Salary Arrears Of Private Schools In Nigeria

There are indications the Federal Government may take over payment of outstanding salaries of private school teachers in the country. This is aimed at mitigating the hardship they face presently due to the closure of schools throughout the country as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

This was disclosed at a zoom conference by the President, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Chief Yomi Otubela, who said the salaries would be paid from the N2.3 trillion stimulus package recently approved by the Federal Government to support businesses, including private education sub-sector.

While appealing to the Federal Government to also reconsider its decision on the suspension of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and other public examinations for graduating students, Otubela maintained that the decision was not in the best interest of the country.

It is widely believed that private school teachers were the most affected since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, as the current closure of schools made it difficult for school-owners to continue with their obligations to their staff.

Perturbed by this, NAPPS had consulted with the Federal Government through the Economic Sustainability Committee, to support private schools, thereby cushioning the effects of the pandemic on the sub-sector.

Otubela said: ”Our justification for requesting palliatives from Federal Government was borne out of the fact that the abrupt closure of schools to protect the students in the country from the outbreak of the pandemic, unfortunately, brought a lot of untold hardship to private school owners who rely heavily on fees to meet up with obligations such as payment of salaries, operational costs and repayment of loans obtained from various financial institutions.

“The recent announcement of the approval of N2.3 trillion stimulus package to support businesses by the Federal Government with the inclusion of private schools is a welcome development to save private education sub-sector from imminent collapse. NAPPS, therefore, appreciates the government for the swift response to our request for support. We are hopeful that the government will soon release guidelines for private schools to benefit from this support.”

He also expressed appreciation on the N50 billion single digit loan COVID-19 intervention funds by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

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