Mr Ibrahim Ahmed, the Manager of Gombe Children and High School, says no staff under its establishment earns below the N70, 000 new minimum wage in the country.
Ahmed who stated this in an interview with our correspondent in Gombe said that the move was to ensure compliance with the law in terms of payment to workers and the need to boost the morale of its staff.
Ahmed said that the school began payment of the new minimum wage in January and with that “ cleaners in our school, now earns N70, 000 while graduate earns above N100, 000.”
He stated that the move to ensure that teachers and workers in the school were highly motivated was in honour of the late founder of the school, Suleiman Kumo who always stressed the need for his teachers to be comfortable enough to give their best.
“Our founder, Suleiman Kumo of blessed memory would always remind us of the need to take care of our teachers and staff.
“His philosophy is that no one can give his best when he is not comfortable and that legacy we will continue to sustain so that our students will get quality education to justify the reason the school was established in January 1982,” he said.
He stated that the good record of the school was a collective effort of the teachers and other workers and that explained why the school had prioritised staff welfare.
He said aside the salary, there were other allowances like transportation, housing, special duty allowances amongst others, being paid to teachers in the school and “our teachers are all on pension; so they have the rest of mind to give their best.”
Ahmed said that the delay in implementing the new minimum wage was in view of the need to work out the modalities and ensure continuous implementation, “so we met with the PTA of the school and worked out the increment in school fees to enable us to pay.”
The manager commended the parents for their understanding and sacrifice towards creating an environment conducive for their children to learn and acquire the best education possible.
He urged the teachers to reciprocate the gesture by coming up with innovative and creative ways to teaching their pupils and students so that parents would continue to get good value for the money being spent in payment of school fees.
