To reduce the hardship private schools teachers are undergoing due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Federal Government may take over payment of their outstanding salaries.
President, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Chief Yomi Otubela, who disclosed this at a Zoom conference 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.
Otubela appealed to the Federal Government to also review its stand on the suspension of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and other public examinations for graduating students, saying the decision was not in the best interest of the country.
Private school teachers have been the worst hit since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, as the schools remained shut, making it impossible for proprietors to meet their obligations to their workers.
Worried by the development, NAPPS had engaged the Federal Government through the Economic Sustainability Committee on the need to support private schools to cushion the effect of COVID-19 on the sub-sector.
”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.”
Otubela also expressed appreciation for the N5O billion COVID-19 intervention funds single loan digit by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
