…We are treated like trash, owed salaries up to two months – Teachers

By Elizabeth Uwandu

Following the resumption of academic activities in primary and secondary schools in Lagos, many private school owners are lamenting the spate of teachers resigning without proper notice, arguing that the move by teachers, more often than not, has negative effects on the children’s learning ability.

*From left: Mr Walter Aloanyi, MD, Providus Bank, Vice-Chancellor, Lagos State University, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun and the MD, Clayhall Properties, Mr Ayo Ojuroye, during the inauguration of a computer-based test centre at LASU recently. 

However, findings by Vanguard revealed that some teachers leave without  adequate notice because of various factors. These factors include unfair treatment by school owners; excess workload and irregular payment of salary, among other factors.

We are treated like trash, owed salaries up to two months – Teachers

Mr Lateef Nosiru, a teacher, said most Nigerian school owners do not adhere to the terms and conditions of service as they subject their workers to all manner of ill-treatment and  bad working conditions.

Nosiru explained: “Most Nigerian school owners do not respect labour laws. In most cases, teachers do not resign, they escape. When some school owners and administrators treat their teachers like crap, delay their salaries to keep them in the school, what do you expect?

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“The school I resigned from is yet to pay my July and August salaries and piled up lesson fees despite the fact that I gave them early notice and still did some of their future works for them so as not to destabilise the teacher who would replace me,” he lamented.

Justifying why she resigned without notice, Chioma Igwebueze said: “How can I teach 30 periods a week aside the  lesson periods? I teach JSS 1 with over 150 students, and had sessions with SS classes, yet, the  proprietor thinks the N18,000 he is  paying me is too much!

This is why after resuming, on the second day, I came to school by 7am and resigned after assembly,”she said.

Mrs Comfort Olaosun, another teacher said:  ”I gave a month’s notice to the management of the school where I worked last as a secretary/accounts officer. I resigned in July giving August ending as my Iast day in the school. I didn’t get my salary until January this year after a lot of messages and reminders.”

While Loveth  Ani explained: “The proprietor of the former school where I worked was playing with my salary till almost three weeks after closing date. And when he paid, he didn’t even pay in full,” she lamented.

It’s unprofessional to resign without notification

A research in 2015 revealed that the way employees quit affects their future professional opportunities.

Meera Jagannathan said the tried-and-true standard was to give two weeks’ notice, you technically ‘don’t have to give any notice at all’ unless you signed some contractual agreement stating otherwise.

“Is that smart? Probably not,” she added. “There’s a significant risk in some ways in just bailing with no notice.

“What you always need to keep in mind (is) no matter how much you dislike that employer or how happy you are to be leaving, it’s really very bad to burn bridges because you just never know.”

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For Mrs Toyin Sode Idowu, a seasoned educationist, it is unprofessional to resign without notice to the employer.

“It smacks of lack of professionalism especially when your letter of employment clearly states conditions of exit.

‘The fact that the school owner does wrong doesn’t justify the staff exiting abruptly. What is bad is bad. If you intend leaving, do so appropriately. Don’t collect salary and abscond,” she advised.

For Afolabi Omotesho: “If we are going to run by a fair policy, a staff that has plans to leave a school should do that at the end of July rather than waiting to collect the August salary in the first place.

“The former seems to me ethically correct. However, some school owners force their workers to do the wrong things probably because of other people’s experiences that they have witnessed.

“This is the negative effects of incivility. Regardless, my advice to teachers is that we should do what is right and sow the right seeds for our future no matter what.”

Teachers should ensure they understand terms of service

In order to curb the  excesses of teachers who resign without adequate notice, stakeholders have advocated that the terms of service should be understood by school owners and their employees, the teachers.

Mr Temitope Adu said: “Terms of engagement and disengagement should be clearly spelt out in the offer letter during recruitment. These are to be discussed, agreed to or amended then appended to before acceptance letters are written.”

Teachers should constantly upgrade themselves to avoid unfair treatment -Ogunde

According to the founder, Concerned Parents and Educators Network, CPEN, while there is no justification for maltreating teachers by employers, teachers should equip themselves constantly to be able to work in standard organisations.

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“When a business is taking off, whether a school, a company or any other kind of organisation, there will certainly be a lot of teething problems. Some may not even survive the first two years; a huge percentage of businesses never last beyond five years.

“What I believe you need to do as a teacher is to determine the kind of school you will want to work for. You will notice that well structured organisations go through very rigorous tests before they employ people. They screen, shortlist etc.

“On the other hand, an organisation just starting out except well funded, may be unable to attract the best hands and just make do with the available.

“What is the implication of this for a teacher? Keep getting better. If you are really good, you will be able to insist on a letter of employment before starting. You will also be able to state that you must be paid throughout the year,” she said.

Vanguard