ABSTRACT
The study determined the
rating of teachers and school heads on the influence of the Nigeria Union of
Teachers (NUT) on teachers’ welfare and working conditions in the Central
Senatorial District of Edo State. To guide the study six research questions
were raised and four hypotheses were formulated and tested. The study covered
public primary and secondary school teachers in the Senatorial District.
The study adopted the descriptive research design. A
total of three hundred and forty eight (348) respondents made up of 319 teachers
and 29 school heads were sampled from a population of 3199 teachers and 292
school heads in all public primary and secondary schools in Edo Central Senatorial
District, using simple random sampling technique. Primary data were obtained
from the respondents by means of questionnaire, while data analysis was done
using frequency distribution, mean, and the t-test statistical analysis was
used to test the four hypotheses.
Results of data analysis
showed a general consensus among respondents (70.6%) that NUT had enhanced
teachers’ welfare especially in relation to the following: establishments of a
functional cooperative society to address the needs of members, organization of
regular seminars/workshops in which members’ welfare were addressed and advocating
for teachers when unjustly treated by government. It also revealed that 309 (90.1%)
of the respondents agreed that NUT had improved the working conditions of
teachers especially in facilitation of payment of teachers’ special allowance,
enhancement of teachers’ salary as well as ensuring prompt payment of teachers’
salary. Based on these findings, the study recommended that NUT should
incorporate scholarship schemes into its services to members and also provide
loans for its members to make it more relevant to teachers’ welfare. NUT should
intensify efforts in ensuring teachers regular promotion at when due since
prompt promotion will encourage better job performance among teachers.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTIONBackground to the Study
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT)
is both professional and trade union organization of all teachers in primary
and post-primary school system throughout the country. The union was founded on
8th July, 1931 and now has thirty six state wings and Federal
Capital Territory wing, Abuja, all of them with full time state secretaries and
other supporting staff. There are also Local Government branches of the union
in each of the 779 local government areas of the country.
The Nigeria Union of Teachers
started with much concern on the image and professional growth of the teaching
profession in Nigeria, but when the body felt that teachers were being shabbily
treated, she registered as a trade union in 1941 with the sole aim of looking
after the welfare and conditions of service of her members. Before the Trade
Union Amendment Act, 2005 which has democratized labour and granted freedom to
employees to decide which unions they wish to belong, the 1978 Trade Union
Decree had made the membership of the Nigerians Union of Teachers mandatory on
every teacher in the primary and post primary institutions in the country and
also compelled financial support by members through check-off system. The
democratization of labour has however not diminished the jurisdictional scope
of Nigeria Union of Teachers as the only legal body to take care of the welfare
of teachers in both, primary and post primary schools in Nigeria. The above
claim is buttressed by Federal Republic of Nigeria official gazette of 6th
July, 2006 No. 73, Vol. 93.
In this gazette, an attempt made by
an association with the name Academic Staff of Secondary Schools of Nigeria to
register as a trade union was turned down on the ground that the existing trade
union (Nigeria Union of Teachers) is sufficient representative of the interest
of the class of persons (Secondary school teachers/tutors) the association
intended to represent. The position of Nigeria Union of Teachers is further
consolidated by the Supreme Court Judgement of 11th January, 2008 in
the case between the Registered Trustees of National Association of Community
Health Practitioners of Nigeria and two others and Medical and Health Workers’
Union of Nigeria. In the above case, the Supreme Court ruled that the community
health practitioners are members of the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of
Nigeria and cannot transform into a Trade Union. The basis of the Supreme Court
Judgement flows from the provision of the Trade Union Act and Fundamental right
principles of 1999 constitution. Section 3(2) of Trade Union Act Cap 43 of Laws
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 while empowering the Minister or the
Registrar to register ‘a new trade union’ such registration will only be
possible where no trade union already exist to take care of the interest of
such workers.
Since Nigeria Union of Teachers
(NUT) is the only recognized and legislated industrial union representing the
industrial interest and welfare of teachers at the primary and post primary
levels of our educational structure, she decided to set for herself laudable
aims and objectives to fulfill her professional and trade union obligations to
the generality of Nigerian teachers as contained in Article 2 (200) of NUT
constitution.
Objectives of the Nigeria Union of
Teachers as stated in the union’s constitution are:
i.
To foster unity and progress among all teachers
in Nigeria
ii.
To foster the spirit of active co-operation and
comradeship between teachers and other workers.
iii.
To raise the status of the teaching profession
through improved quality of education and conditions of service.
iv.
To promote and advance the course of education
and the teaching profession throughout the federation and also endeavour to
secure the removal of difficulties, abuses, anomalies and obsolete regulations
detrimental to progress.
v.
To enhance the social and economic wellbeing of
members and establish welfare funds for the benefit of members of the union.
vi.
To provide a forum for the co-operation of
teachers and the promotion of their welfare, the interests of education and
teaching profession.
vii.
To promote the corporate image of the union both
nationally and internationally by ensuring the continued existence of a strong,
virile and well articulated organization.
viii.
To give leadership and stimulate interest in
matters which foster national and international unity and understanding.
The
activities of the NUT are based on the provisions of the outlined objectives.
In order to effectively achieve these objectives and have an impact on the
improvement of education and teaching profession, the Union operates functionally
through defined components and sub-components. By its organizational
arrangement, the NUT has a National body, state wings and Local Government Area
levels through branches. The activities of the NUT are vested on various organs
as contained in the Union constitution Article 5 (200). The constitution of the
NUT is a supreme symbol of unity aimed at fostering unity and progress in
Nigeria and to promote and advance the cause of education and teaching
profession throughout the federation.
For the union to be able to carryout
its activities that are aimed at improving the welfare and service conditions
of teachers by addressing issues on irregular payment of salaries, irregular
promotion of teachers, non-payment of fringe benefits, poor physical environment,
lack of teaching materials, non-professionalization of teaching,
non-implementation of teachers salary structure (TSS), the Nigeria Union of
Teachers (NUT) employs different strategies and tactics which include:
collective bargaining, consultation, cooperation, work to rule. Others are
confrontation, lobbying and strike action.
These tactics and strategies are
used by the NUT to cause positive change in the educational system and teaching
profession. To what extent therefore has the influence of Nigeria Union of
Teachers in the past ten years (2002 - 2012) using the above stated tactics and
strategies positively affected Teachers Welfare and working conditions in Edo
Central Senatorial District?
Emiola (1982) however observed that
labour law contains some provisions by which the government regulates and
moderates the activities of the NUT in its day to day operations and
application of its strategies. According to him, the 1974 Labour law stipulates
step and procedure to be followed in declining a trade dispute between the
employer and the employee.
Teachers in Edo Central Senatorial
District constitute a professional group that deserves to be protected. In
order to create a conducive atmosphere for teachers and learners in the school
system, the interest of the practitioners is made manifest through the Nigeria
Union of Teachers (NUT), Edo State wing which indulges in the use of the
activities of lobbying, dialoguing, collective bargaining, confrontation,
consultation, cooperation, strike action among others where and when necessary.
The NUT has involved itself in these
actions with a view to bringing out and causing a positive change in the lives
of its members and improvement in the school system. The NUT has made suggestions
contributions, decisions and representation/membership of committees on the
improvement of the school system. This explains why the union has
representations in Educational agencies such as Ministry of Education, Post
Primary Education Board, State Universal Basic Education Board, Local
Government Education Board. These boards are in constant dialogue and
negotiation with NUT on how to resolve problems associated with the school
system.
Some of the problems that have
engaged the attention of the NUT range from irregular payment of teachers
salaries, non-payment of leave grants, irregular promotions, inability to
provide schools with running cost, (subvention) dilapidated school buildings
and inability to provide teaching materials and other financial obligations.
The problem of this study therefore
is to examine the rating of
NUT influence on teachers’ welfare and working conditions in Edo Central
Senatorial District in the past ten years (2002 - 2012).
The following
research questions were raised to guide this study
1. What is
the rating of primary and secondary school
teachers on the influence of NUT on Teachers’ welfare?
2. What is
the rating of primary and secondary school
teachers on the influence of NUT on teachers’ working conditions?
3. Is
there a difference in the rating of primary and secondary school teachers on
the influence of NUT on their welfare?
4. Is
there a difference in the rating of primary and secondary school teachers on
the influence of NUT on their working conditions?
5. Is
there a difference between the rating of school heads and teachers on the
influence of NUT on their welfare?
6. Is
there a difference in the rating of NUT influence on teachers’ working
conditions by school heads and teachers’
Based
on the research questions raised, the following hypothesis were formulated and
tested
1) There
is no significant difference between the rating of primary and secondary school
teachers on the influence of NUT on teachers welfare.
2) There
is no significant difference between the rating of primary and secondary school
teachers on the influence of NUT on teachers working conditions.
3) There
is no significant difference between the rating of school heads and class
teachers on the influence of NUT on teachers’ welfare
4) There
is no significant difference between the rating of the school heads and class teachers
on the influence of NUT on teachers’ working conditions.
The purpose of this research is as
follows:
1.
To find out the rating of NUT’s
influence on the welfare and working conditions of teachers in Edo central
Senatorial District.
2.
Ascertain the difference in the
rating of primary and secondary school teachers on the influence of NUT on
teachers’ welfare and working conditions.
3.
To analyze the difference in
rating of school heads and teachers on the influence of NUT on their welfare
and working conditions.
4.
To find out the rating of NUT on
how it has been able to influence the provision of educational facilities to
motivate the teachers in Edo central Senatorial District for greater job
performance.
The study of influence of NUT on
teachers’ welfare and working condition is of great benefit to Educational
Managers and Administrators, the NUT, teachers, parents and students in Edo
central Senatorial District. The Nigeria’s Union of Teachers controls the
largest workforce in the state and by extension Edo Central Senatorial
District. It is important that the working system of NUT as a trade union and
professional organization is well understood. This no doubt would go a long way
in averting industrial action involving such a large workforce which would
result in great loss of money, manpower, developmental time and promote
industrial peace and harmony in the school system. The finding would be useful
to NUT as an organization in knowing how well it had met the needs of its
members.
The study would be useful to
students of labour studies and student teachers who may want to know something
about NUT. The study in addition may be useful to government in determining the
methods of handling issues and problems that affect teachers overtime and also
enable the educational agencies and the NUT adopt ways of ensuring continuous
industrial peace, stability and progress in the school system.
Finally, the knowledge of the rating
of the influence of NUT would be a
source of satisfaction to its members most of whom are ignorant of what the
union stands for thereby increasing their support, morale and productivity.
Scope of the Study
This study covered all public,
primary and secondary schools in the district. The respondents were chosen from
the five(5) local government areas that make up the district.
Definition
of Terms
The following terms are defined as
they relate to the study.
NUT: The
Nigeria Union of Teachers. An organization that oversees the affairs of
teachers as a trade union.
Teachers
Working Conditions: This is the totality of the remunerations to
which a teacher is entitled for the services he renders.
Teachers
welfare: Enhancement of the social and economic wellbeing of
teachers by meeting their welfare needs which embodies good conditions of
service.
Influence: How
NUT has affected teachers’ welfare and working condition.
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Item Type: Postgraduate Material | Attribute: 90 pages | Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word | Price: N3,000 | Delivery: Within 30Mins.
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