…Lauds elevation of civil servants in MDAs
UFOMBA UZUEGBU
Organized Labour under the aegis of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN, has appealed to the Federal Government to promote more Education Officers in the Federal Ministry of Education throughout the country.
It also commended the Government for elevating many Civil Servants to the Directorate level in the Ministries,Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
In a statement issued in Abuja,on Thursday, November 21, 2024,the ASCSN National President, Comrade Shehu Mohammed and the Secretary-General,Comrade Joshua Apebo stated that an analysis of recent promotions carried out in the MDAs,showed that there might have been an oversight on the promotion of officers in the Headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Education, the 110 Federal Unity Colleges and the Federal Education Quality Assurance Service (FEQAS) throughout the country.
“We are surprised that in the entire Federal Ministry of Education with more than 6,000 staff in all States of the Federation, only 70 officers were promoted to the Directorate level.” For instance, only three (3) Deputy Directors were elevated to the rank of Directors, 14 Assistant Directors promoted to Deputy Directors while 53 officers were uplifted to the rank of Assistant Directors making a total of 70 officers that benefitted from the promotion exercise “, they added.
According to ASCSN,when compared with 356 officers that were elevated to the Directorate level in the Office of the Head of Civil Service to the Federation (OHCSF), 386 that benefitted in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), 102 in the Ministry of Police Affairs,among, others, it would become crystal clear that Officers in the Federal Ministry of Education with only 70 elevated in the Directorate level, were really shortchanged.
It posited that the argument for the low level of promotion in the Federal Ministry of Education might be premised on the stale tale of lack of vacancies but the Union had always offered suggestions on how to create opportunities for Education Officers in the Federal Ministry of Education to reach the height of their career by rising to the Directorate level and not dampen their morale through stagnation.
” The Union has proposed several times, for instance, to the Management of the Federal Ministry Education that the junior arms of the Federal Government Colleges should be disarticulated from the Senior Secondary segments as has been done in Lagos State, Kano State and the TTC, thereby creating more vacancies for Directors to head each school.
“We have also suggested that Tenure Policy must continue to be implemented in, the Federal Ministry of Education so that vacancies in the Directorate level can continue to be generated while big Units in the Ministry such as the Nigeria Education Management Systems (NEMIS) and NATCOM for UNESCO can also become Departments to be manned by Directors”, the labour leaders stressed.
They stated further that the Department of Science and Technology Education could, become two Departments namely, Department of Science Education and Technology and Vocational Education Department while Girl-Child Education could also become a Department of Basic Education, as well.
” We also urge the Federal Ministry of Education to resume the quarterly meetings with the Union,pay outstanding salary and promotion arrears, train and retrain Officers in the Ministry, start promotion and automatic placement of Officers as and when due to boost the morale of Staff and provide working tools for Staff”, they emphasized.
The Union leaders stressed the need for adequate funding of Departments while there should be Presidential waivers for the Federal Ministry Education to create vacancies as it was done in 2013, so that stagnated Officers could be promoted.
The Union urged the Presidency, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the Federal Civil Service Commission, the OHCSF to intervene on this matter and ensure that Education Officers in the Headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Education, those in the 110 Federal Government Colleges and the Federal Education Quality Assurance Service (FEQAS),throughout the Federation are promoted as and when due like their counterparts in other MDAs in the interest of justice, equity and fairness,among others.
