The Kaduna State Government, on Monday, said it was finalising the processes for the implementation of the 65 years retirement age or 40 years of service for teachers in the state.

The Commissioner for Education, Hajiya Halima Lawal, made this known in Kaduna on Monday during the distribution of 2,358 digital school attendance devices to 2,358 public primary schools across the state.

President Muhammadu Buhari had in April signed the harmonised retirement age for teachers bill into law.

The law has increased the retirement age of teachers in the country from 60 to 65 years and extended the duration of service for teachers from 35 to 40 years.

Lawal, who was represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Haliru Soba, said the processes for the domestication of the law had already passed through the state’s Policy Council.

She added that the document would be sent to the State Executive Council for final approval.

The commissioner, however, called on the teachers to reciprocate the gesture by rededicating themselves and increase their commitment to reducing the disturbing learning poverty index in the state.

Lawal said the current learning poverty index in the country stood at 70 to 80 per cent, with that of Kaduna State estimated at around 50 to 60 per cent.

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“This means that we can have a 10-year-old child that cannot read a simple passage or do simple addition or subtraction. This is quite alarming.

“We are supposed to take care of this at the foundation level and if we fail, then we are going to be recording increased levels of poverty in learning in the state and the country.

“This is why we are making all efforts to make our education system functional by looking at the child, the teacher, infrastructure, funding, and the education systems,” she said.

She, however, noted that nothing would be achieved without the maximum support of the teachers and other education stakeholders.

The commissioner further called on education managers at all levels to support government efforts to reposition the sector to ensure quality teaching that would improve learning outcomes in public schools.

The digital school attendance register is an initiative of the World Bank-supported Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA).

The digital register is designed to track school attendance and provide critical information to help ensure school retention and completion rate in public primary schools.

The Star