Primary and junior secondary school Teachers, as well as, staff of the Abia State Universal Basic Education Board (ASUBEB), has cried out to the Governor of the State, Dr. Alex Otti, over the continuous underpayment of their salaries.
According to some of the primary and junior secondary school teachers who spoke to our reporter in anonymity, complained bitterly over the salary disparity between them and their counterparts in the senior secondary school.
They said teachers under the Secondary Education Management Board(SEMB), since the inception of the Dr. Alex Otti’s administration, have had their salaries increased, while the salaries of teachers under ASUBEB, have continued to decrease
One of the teachers who simply identified herself as Stella and teaches in one of the junior secondary schools in Aba, said that her colleague in senior secondary school on the same grade level as her, now receives one hundred and fifty thousand naira (#150,000) per month, while hers and other of her colleagues under ASUBEB, remained eighty seven thousand naira (#87,000).
She stated that while the Secondary Education Management Board has stopped every illegal deduction and underpayment of salaries of teachers in their payroll, the situation remained the same for primary and junior secondary school teachers in the State Universal Basic Education Board.
Another teacher asked what teachers in the state particularly those in primary and junior secondary schools have done to deserve the unjust and inhuman treatment of undue deductions and under payment of their salaries for years now.
In an interview with a staff of the ASUBEB, who does not want his name on print, confirmed the complaint raised by teachers under ASUBEB, saying that it is not different from what they are also experiencing as staff of the Board.
According to him, a level 14 officer under ASUBEB is receiving seventy two thousand naira (#72,000), while those on the same level under SEMB, receive higher.
He lamented the level of impunity and wondered why such should be going on in the state civil service, without any action to halt it. He pointed other discrepancies, saying that a level 12 officer under ASUBEB is being paid with the salary structure of a level 8 officer.
Meanwhile, he called on the government to take prompt action in correcting the wrong, suggesting that the salary structure of civil servants ought to be the same, irrespective of the Ministry, department or agency.
When our reporter contacted the Acting chairman of ASUBEB, Barr Chidozie Ndaji to confirm the issue raised by these workers and as well, state what he knows about the abnormalities, his phone rang but he neither picked up nor returned the call.
