How Irregular Payment Of Teachers Salary Affect Students And Learning

How much do teachers get paid for their selfless service, that they should be owed salaries?


Well, that has often been the case in Nigeria at both the basic and higher institutions of learning and is one of these problems killing education in the country.

Failure to remunerate teachers would adversely affect students and learning

Consider the following scenes

First Scenario

The teacher comes into the class with smiles dangling on her face. The students frantically stand up to greet her. After the pleasantries, the teacher replies with extras. She picks up a board pen and approaches the writing board. She dispenses her service cheerfully to the comprehension of the students. Subsequently, she interrogates the students and they all answer very correctly. She gives them a comprehensive note. She leaves the class with satisfaction.

Second Scenario

The teacher comes into the class with a disgruntled face. She gives a monotonous sigh as she stares at the students. The students hesitantly stand to greet her. For the past three months, she has become a shadow of herself and has degraded from her excellent teaching ability.
She gives another monotonous sigh as she picks up a board pen and trudges her way to the writing board. She outlines some points and gives a paltry explanation. She finally drops the pen, oblivious of the confused faces of the students. She announces her to leave and leaves amidst dying exit complement from the distraught students.

Hence, let's compare these two scenarios and fish out their likely differences.

The teacher in the first scenario has been receiving her salary regularly without renege.
What is the effect? An efficient service is carried out and it is obvious in the students' reaction.



In the second scenario, it is obvious the teacher has not been paid for the past three months or more, and what is the aftermath? The teacher has obviously stopped rolling the ball in her teaching.

The school is a primary institution in the society where our future leaders (youths) are molded to become better tools in the society. But this concept may never be actualized when the staff remuneration is a left much to be desired. There are many negative aftermaths of irregular payment of salaries on students and learning.

How Irregular Payment Of Teachers Salary Affects Students and Learning

1. Pernicious Relapse in Learning by Students

The teachers are a rational set of human beings, and their mental, physical and emotional effort geared toward restructuring the children to excellence is determined by their well-being. A teacher who is not regularly remunerated will find no joy in teaching.
When the teacher remembers her financial obligations-which are the reasons why she needs the salary. It will also becloud her mind of teaching that she can be imposing her grievances on the students.
Ask any teacher, and they'll explain how it feels when you are owed salary in arrears. 

Experiences have also shown that a hitherto well-behaved student in learning had regressed as a result of the teacher's relapse.
For best results, learning should be a continuous process and will suffer a huge setback if teachers are not always in class.

Truthfully, learning will be an insatiable concept in a school known for irregular remuneration of teachers.

2. Unqualified Personnel

Irregular payment of salary scares away potential teachers from a school, precisely qualified ones.

Before sending in an application for employment, one of the first inquiries teachers make is concerning the remuneration of teachers already employed by the school.
If the response is not encouraging, they rip off any intentions of sending in an application.


A teacher's success both financially and otherwise cannot be underemphasized because they are the greatest potters. Everybody who wants to be a teacher needs to earn a livelihood since it is not only considered as a career but as an occupation. So any potential teacher will consider the remunerative method of teachers before embarking on applying to a school.

Also, schools that are fond of owing teacher salaries will end up employing unqualified personnel in a bid to maintain their crazy payment system.

3. The Fall Of Great Schools

Teachers always make irregular payment of salary an object of discussion whenever they are with their fellow teachers. Hence, the image of the school which is the object of discussion is marred, and the self-esteem is lost.

Even parents and guardian withdraw their children from the supposed school when they learn that as their identifying concept. Why? That is because they know the success of a learning institution solely lies on the teachers.

Rehabilitated public schools and newly established ones will still fail if proper attention is not given to the payment of teachers salary.

4. Incessant Strike Actions

This has generally become a feature of education at all levels in Nigeria.
Primary and secondary school government teachers embark on a strike to protest unpaid salaries while the ASUU (the All-State Union Of Universities) was a highlight in 2017.

No doubt, strike actions disrupt learning and doesn't bode well for all involved parties.

The students would generally use this period to pursue non-educational goals and may get back to school with little interest in what goes on in the classroom or lecture hall.

Rounding up on how irregular payment of salary affect students and learning 

The aftermaths of irregular remuneration of teachers are so destabilizing.

The government, school proprietors, and education boards should be efficient in remunerating their staff.
Granted, they fail in this because of the reneging habits of parents and guardians in payments of school fees. But above waters, they should try to make sure they apply all workable strategies in remunerating their teachers.
This will ensure the success of the school, the excellence of the students and an ideal learning condition for everyone.

What's more?
Education in Nigeria can finally reach new heights.