LAGOS COLLEGE TEACHERS PROTEST GOVTS MOVE TO CUT THEIR PAY

At least 66 employees of the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED), Lagos, have complained over an alleged plan by the college’s management to place them on a new term that may reduce their salaries and allowances by half.

The employees, who are mainly teachers of the AOCOED Staff School (nursery and primary) and AOCOED International School (secondary), said the plan by the school management is a breach of their status as employees of the institution and Lagos State Civil Service.
Last Tuesday, top management staff of the college, led by the acting provost, Wole Ajose, and the registrar, Muyiwa Coker, summoned teachers to a meeting and informed them that the deputy governor of Lagos State, Idiat Adebule, had directed that they should be “deharmonised” as staff of the college and placed on a different term of employment.
“Although this has been a very difficult decision for me, but we have been directed by the state government to begin the process of deharmonisation of the AOCOED Staff School and AOCOED International School,” Mr. Ajose, the acting provost, told the teachers.
Mr. Ajose however told us that the “deharmonisation” of the teachers from the Consolidated Tertiary Education Institution Salary Structure (CONTENDIS) – the salary structure of employees of all colleges of educations in the country – is part of the recommendations of the National Commission of Colleges of Education (NCCE) visitation panel on how the institution can cut cost.
He said the schools, which were initially created to generate income for the college, did not make nearly enough income to even keep them operational.
Reading from a document he said was the report of the visitation panel, he said: “the college is advised to normalise the funding of the AOCOED international School with a view to reducing and removing the anomaly and reducing cost to the college. Both schools should be able to generate revenue that supports them and possibly contribute to the purse of the college. The college spends N14 million monthly to keep the schools operational.”
The colleges’ public relation officer, Adebolawa Odunayo, explained further that the plan to remove the teachers from CONTENDIS was aimed at correcting the anomaly mentioned in the report of the visitation panel.
“The teachers were originally employed as venture staff. They are originally employed by either AOCOED Staff School or AOCOED international School. They are still staff of both schools,” he said.
Mr. Odunayo said the school planned to place them on the same salary scale as other teachers of public schools in the state.
He said the teachers should be thankful that the college had decided to be considerate, citing example of teachers of the staff school of Lagos State Polytechnic, where he said all the teachers were laid off and told to re-apply.
“This group of people are teachers and should be earning what other teachers in the state civil service are paid. They may not be paid more but they would not be paid less than what other teachers in the state are being paid.”
He added that he sympathised with the teachers and would have protested like they are now doing if he were in their shoes but the college has no choice but to implement the directive of the state’s deputy governor.
Some of the teachers who spoke to us said it was not true that they were employed as venture staff.
They said their employment letters and the subsequent confirmation of their employment unambiguously stated that they were genuine staff of the college, and by extension, staff of the state civil service.
Original copies of their employment letters seen by this reporter validated their argument.
The teachers further argued that their job transcended those of the ordinary classroom teachers as they were set up as demonstration schools and laboratories, where researches and experimentation are conducted to nurture upcoming professionals in the education sector.
They said this fact was stated in chapter three of their employment letter which reads:
“You will be responsible to the Principal AOCOED International School for the performance of your duties as a classroom teacher and you may also be requested to take part in extra-moral work and extension services in the college”
They said in recognition of their contributions to the academic development of the school, the college implemented the recommendation of a six-man committee which advised that they should be harmonised into the mainstream of the college personnel.
“We are shocked that the college registrar who was a member of the six-man committee that recommended our harmonisation as mainstream personnel of the college and the acting provost who was a former head Master of AOCOED Staff School are the people championing this injustice,” one of the teachers who preferred anonymity said.
Another teacher argued: “what the college really need is a thorough staff and financial audit. This is a college that generates over a billion naira annually with over N120 million monthly subventions from the government. Where is the money going to?
“There is nothing to show in the college that the college makes this kind of revenue. There are lots of ghost workers on the payroll of the college, some really dead yet they are still earning salaries,” he said.
The spokesperson of the Lagos State governor, Habib Haruna, did not answer several calls made to his mobile phone or respond to an SMS asking for government’s position on the matter.