The federal government has promised to cover some Unity College teachers’ 36-month salary arrears. The promise was made by Education Minister Prof. Tahir Mamman on the fringes of the Mastercard Foundation’s three-day EdTech Conference in Abuja on Tuesday.
For a period of three years, 1,800 teachers at Unification Colleges are due pay arrears and other perks. Mamman promised that the teachers would receive their money shortly and stated that the Ministry of Finance already has the files of the impacted teachers.
“The issue of the teachers’ salary is already with the Budget Office and the Ministry of Finance. So hopefully, they will be paid. I can’t tell exactly when their money will be paid. We don’t pay at the Ministry of Education. But we have done the paper work. It is already in finance. Hopefully, very soon, they will get their money,” he said.
The category of teachers was recruited by the Federal Ministry of Education in 2018, 2019, and 2020 as education officers and posted to schools across the country. They were, however, not paid due to logistic challenges encountered at the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System’s (IPPIS)’ desk of the ministry.
Another reason given for the non-payment was the failure of the ministry to transmit the files of the affected teachers to the Budget Office for vetting and onward transfer to the Accountant General’s office for approval.
