BENIN—TEACHERS in Edo state are to be paid based on the Teachers Salary Structure (TSS) with effect from January 2010.

“I have approved the TSS. It will be fully implemented in Edo state with effect from January 2010,” said Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

The Governor also disclosed that Teachers posted to the rural areas in Edo state  are to earn  more allowances  in accordance with  the Teachers Salary Structure for  which the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) went on strike  for over  two months last year.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole made this known at a press briefing to mark his first anniversary as Governor of Edo state.

He explained that  teachers posted to the rural areas will be paid their due allowances for such posting.

The Governor who  disclosed that  “up to  60% of our personnel costs go to teachers salaries” said it is the policy of his government to ensure qualitative education in the rural areas, hence the posting of qualified teachers to those areas.

Governor Oshiomhole said his government would put up a supervisory mechanism to ensure that teachers posted to the rural areas report punctually for duty.

He said his government has employed 1, 150  new teachers within his first year in office.
The Governor said his government would not longer tolerate a situation where one secondary school has two principals and six vice principals who do not engage in teaching .

Governor Oshiomhole said “ Under no circumstance should any school have more than one principal”.

He said on assumption of offce he found that 98% of the schools in the rural areas do not have more than ‘“ two or three teachers”nd there is no way pupils in such schools can benefit from qualitative education.

He said the over concentration of teachers in Local Government headquarters and Benin city was so much that  “ for example,  in Oredo , we had a situation where the entire earnings of the  local government could not pay teachers salary alone”.

Governor Oshiomhole who said he appreciated the inconvenience that the teachers may have as a result of the rural posting policy of  his administration however promised that the posting would only be for three years after which teachers who have been in the cities would also be posted to the rural areas.