The National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) Governing Board and its management on Friday promised staff a better condition of service and welfare to discharge their responsibilities effectively.
The Board’s Chairman, Mr. Muhammadu Maigari, gave the pledge in Abuja at a meeting with the management and staff on how to move the commission forward.
Maigari said that the NCCE needed serious transformation to produce quality teachers.
‘‘We have been trying our best since we assumed office and one of our priorities is to handle the staff demand for condition of service which is long overdue and financial entitlements.
‘‘The capacity building, working tools, creating more departments among others are all considerate issues and actions have been in place to enlarge the activities of the commission.
‘‘Staff are always at the back of our minds and we promised to take care of them and we are assuring you that we will carry everybody along. We will give what is due to everyone.
‘‘We are not magicians, we cannot do everything at once but we will do what is possible and what is available.’’
According to him, the board is making efforts to attract more funds to the commission and the situation is improving gradually.
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‘‘If we can get above 60 per cent of our budget, I think we have done very well while some organisations were talking about 40 or 50 per cent.
‘‘We will try as much as possible to meet the expectation of everybody and meet the target of which we are here,’’ he said.
He further tasked the staff to always give suggestions or recommendations on how the board and management could move the commission forward to fulfill its mandate.
‘‘We cannot do this alone without your support, we really need to work together to transform this organisation.
‘‘Let me use this opportunity to plead and appeal to every one of you to dedicate yourselves to the progress of this organisation.
‘‘This organisation is ours and we have been saddled with the responsibility of moving it forward,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, Prof. Bappa-Aliyu Muhammadu, Executive Secretary, NCCE, said that though the commission has some challenges that hinder the welfare of the staff, it was ready to resolve them.
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‘‘This is the academic place, we have to put all the necessary facilities in place, build our staff capacity to make them discharge their duty with ease.
‘‘Our door is open to listen to all your complaints, enquiries and I am also assuring you that Nigerian teachers are not forgotten,’’ he said.
Earlier, Mr Omale Alen-Jabbar, the union chairman, commended the board’s chairman and management for the opportunity given to staff to interact with them to discuss their challenges.
Alen-Jabbar said that the union has been discussing with the management and board on condition of service.
‘‘The issue of training is another challenge, as the commission to monitor the activities of all Colleges of Education but the problem is that most of the staff are not trained constantly.
‘‘Through our Executive Secretary we got our first training recently after so many years. We ask for more opportunities to be trained continuously.
‘‘You cannot expect us to go to those institutions to monitor their activities and we are less qualified because we do not know as much as they do.
‘‘Some of them are doctors, professors and more. If we want to talk to them, we really need be exposed and equipped.’’
He stressed that the issue of financial entitlements, working tools, creating of more departments, employment opportunities for staff’s children should be tackled by management. (NAN)
