By Bankole Taiwo, Abeokuta
Ogun State Government has been urged to reintroduce payment of hazard and allowance to teachers in rural areas as a way of encouraging teachers being posted to rural areas.
The reintroduction of the allowances, would also check the craze of lobbying for posting to urban areas by teachers and boost education in the rural areas.
The call was made by Media Partners, the Salient Times Media Services and State Post Media, at a news conference held to unveil its Rural Teachers Award.
The award ceremony, which is being organised in conjunction with the Ogun State Ministry of Education, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), and the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS), is coming up on Wednesday, October 5, 2022.
Addressing journalists, the Publisher of Salient Times, Mr Abiodun Taiwo, said the award was organised to stem tide of rural-urban migration, which is prevalent in the country and the main cause of declining quality of education in rural areas as no teacher wants to stay in areas considered less developed due to lack of infrastructural facilities.
Taiwo equally called on the State Government to provide infrastructural facilities like water, road, electricity and access roads, to check rural-urban migration.
He lamented that though, natural resources that are bringing money to government are located in rural areas, stating that these areas that lay golden eggs, are mostly neglected.
“We are however, encouraged by policies put in place by the administration of Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, which are aimed at developing all sectors of the state economy, including education.
“We have therefore, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, selected 13 rural teachers in both primary and secondary schools, for this maiden edition of Rural Teachers Award, in support of Prince Dapo Abiodun led administration in education.
“We are convinced that a well-supported, easily accessible education system is an efficient means to make people economically conscious, and thereby, make them actively participate in their economic prosperity and cultural development.
“It is on record that the state government is not discriminatory in the treatment of teachers and core civil servants in scheme of things, including payment of salaries, pensions and promotions.
“We have designed this programme to stop the notion among teachers that posting to rural areas is a way to punish them but to see this as a service to humnity.
“We therefore agreed that rural teachers must be motivated and encouraged,” Abiodun said.