Almost two weeks after resumption schools in Niger State are yet to resume with no hope at when the impasses between the Niger State Government and Nigerian Union of Teachers would be over.
While parents expressed worries over their wards’ inability to resume school as a result of the sit-at-home directive issued by the NUT to its members over the government’s refusal to stop the percentage payment of salaries, the state government and the union seem not to be making headway in resolving the conflict.
some parents were of the impression that the state government was not being sincere with the way they are handling the situation, claiming that the state government didn’t take the issue seriously as it spent money on other things that didn’t match up with education.
A parent, Musa Sale, whose child is in primary school said he didn’t understand why the issue cannot be resolved once and for all.
“This problem has been on for a long time and I wonder why the government doesn’t want to pay them their full salaries. How can someone be working and he is being paid part of his salary when it is not as if he is under punishment for defaulting?”
Another parent, identified as Christopher, accused the government of insincerity in the impasse saying, “I know that if the government wants this issue resolved, it will be resolved swiftly because they have their way around things but you can see that they don’t want it resolved. If not, in a matter of hours, the issue would be over”.
Most of the women were worried about their children seeing other children in private schools go to school while they stay at home doing nothing.
