Delta State government has approved a new retirement age for teachers in the public service of the State.

The teachers will henceforth retire at the attainment of 40 years of service or 65 years of age, whichever comes first.

The same is applicable to non-academic staff of the State-owned Polytechnics and Colleges of Education.

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The approvals were part of the resolutions reached at the State Executive Council (SEC) meeting held on Monday in Asaba, the State capital.

Briefing journalists on the resolutions, Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, who was flanked by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Mr Olisa Ifeajika, said that the executive council gave the approval to enable the teachers and the tertiary institution workers to contribute more to nation-building.

According to Aniagwu, “We did this because we have seen that even at 65, many have garnered lots of experience to be able to teach more and have a clearer understanding of their fields of study.

“And, they can continue to contribute in moulding minds. 40 years of service is not also a bad idea because we have seen most times that they retire without getting tired.

“Also for the non-teaching staff of our Colleges of Education and Polytechnics, we have given them the advantage of remaining in service as non-teaching staff as much as 40 years.

“They will also remain in service for as long as 65 years of age. So they now have extra five years added to their retirement age and service year,” he said.

Aniagwu further said, “For the nine Technical Colleges, you will recall that we had promised 19 but we are constructing 10 now; so nine out of the 10, we have upward reviews of their contracts with a view to accommodating ancillary works.”

“Approval was given for the provision and installation of solar-power grid to the six newly equipped central hospitals in the state.“

The reason why we are doing this is that, we need our hospitals, especially the six zonal hospitals, to have power for the greater part of the day, so that they are able to function optimally.

“Approval was also given for some road project constructions, including Osa and Sunny Ojubo Street and Ojeh Street in Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area.

“We also gave approval for the construction of Efeneteze and Akpoyowere streets, and Our Lady’s Street, with a discharge drain in Okpanam in Oshimili North,” he stated