Teachers at schools owned by Ogunsanya College of Education protest 50 per cent salary cut, casualisation

The teachers of the staff schools of the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED), Lagos, on Wednesday protested what they described as the casualisation of their employment by the college authorities.

In September, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the teachers complained over the plan by the college’s management to place them on a new term that may reduce their salaries and allowances by half.

They argued that the plan by the school management is a breach of their status as employees of the institution and Lagos State Civil Service.

The school acting provost at the time, Wole Ajose, told PREMIUM TIMES that management was directed to remove the teachers from the college’s payroll by the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Idiat Adebule.

“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, told the teachers.

He later told PREMIUM TIMES that the decision to cut the teachers’ salaries was to reduce the high cost of running the college.

“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,” he said.

True to their fear, despite several negotiation, the college management removed their names from the institution’s official payroll and their salaries were cut by 50 per cent.

On Wednesday, about 60 teachers from the AOCOED Staff School (nursery and primary) and the AOCOED International School (Secondary) shunned the classrooms and came out with placards on receiving their November salaries and discovering that it was half of what they were previously paid.

The teachers stood outside the venue of a meeting of the welfare committee of the institution and requested that the school management revert its decision to remove their names from the college’s official payroll and the 50 per cent cut in their salaries.

Some of the placards carried by the protesting teachers read: “Teachers are human, don’t stigmatize us”, “We say no to de-hamonization”, “Casualisation is an act of injustice.”

“My salary was reduced to 52,000 from 110,000 and after deductions of my loans I have nothing left in my account to feed my children with”, one of the teachers who asked not to be named said as she held her old and new payslips to show the disparity.

The representatives of the protesting teachers were later invited to make representations to the committee and after about 15 minutes of entering the council chamber, where the meeting was held, they came out and told their colleagues that the council assured them that the matter would be resolved positively within the next few days.