NEWS: Parents, teachers protest unpaid salaries at OAU school

Parents, teachers and pupils of the Obafemi Awolowo University Staff School, Ile-Ife, on Tuesday, staged a protest over the non-payment of staff salaries for four months and the increase in the fees charged by the school’s management.

The protest, which started around 8am, led to the disruption of academic activities as the pupils were forced to return home long before the closing time.

They also called on the management of the OAU to reverse the new fee regime.The protesters asked the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to rescind its decision to stop funding the school.

Some of the aggrieved parents said the Federal Government increased tuition fees payable by each pupils from between N1,600 and N4,000 to M20,000 and N25,000.

The teachers gave the management up till Friday to pay the outstanding salaries or be ready for another round of protest.

One of the   teachers in the school, Mrs. Seun Olagunju, said the teachers had been going through a serious hardship because of the unpaid salaries, adding that the management must find a way out of the problem.

She said, “The situation has brought an untold hardship to the teachers. You can imagine not being paid for four months, it is serious. We decided to make this public because we could no longer bear it.”

The Chairman, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian University, OAU chapter, Mr. Ademola Oketunde, said the Federal Government’s decision to stop funding the school and others in its category could be counterproductive.

He also said the non-payment of salaries would definitely affect the teachers, noting that they would not be able to give their best especially at this time when those who were being paid were still suffering.

He urged the Federal Government to reconsider the policy to stop funding staff schools.

The Public Relations Officer of the OAU, Mr. Abiodun Olanrewaju, when contacted said the fee hike was a result of the Federal Government’s decision to stop funding the school.

He said, “The management is working on how to pay the outstanding salaries. We are appealing to the teachers to exercise more patience while we work this out and very soon, there will not be any problem again.”