Despite promises from the government to improve the welfare of teachers of public schools, the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) believe little is being done to motivate teachers to work hard to help government achieve it's educational goals.
In an interview with Peacefmoline.com, the Zonal Secretary for NAGRAT in the Brong Ahafo Region, Mr Stephen Acheampong, lamented over the poor state of Teachers' Welfare, and asked government to take the payment of teachers motivation and other benefits seriously otherwise educational goals would not be met while teachers are not treated well.
He posited that successive governments have failed to give Ghanaian teachers the needed recognition in the country, which, to him, has been impeding the progress of education in several ways.
"Any reform government brings to the education sector, it is the teacher that suffers because we are at the bottom to see its success. There is no proper motivation for us. It is very sad that when we talk of our welfare, it is perceived as noise. Teachers need to be remunerated well to be able to deliver," he noted.
Mr Acheampong, again, observed that the setbacks in the country's education sector keeps on soaring because education workers' needs are not attended to because they(teachers) are seen as people who can work without proper remuneration.
"When teachers are motivated to work, it should not be seen as freebies. That perception must be cleared. We teachers deserve whatever we have been asking government to give us."
Mr Acheampong hastened to add that, the call was not to downplay whatever reforms the NPP-led government was bringing on board, but to remind government on the need to equally pay attention to teachers as the President, Nana Akufo-Addo, promised them before he was elected as President.
Source: Henryson Okrah
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Well said Akwesi. But comparing government schools to the private is like comparing oranges to apples. Though they are all fruits, they thrive on different conditions. Consider all the government schools in ghana, been managed by government. Decisions for institutional goals are passed from the government through, ministry of education, to de GES,and are passed on to the circuit supervisors then to the teachers. You can imagine how long that could take. I remember a particular term i decided to teach my class six class in advance by treating some jhs one topics after completing the class six syllabus and i ended up in the directors office and all my work was investigated as if i had committed a crime. So in as much as teachers may want to implement certain policies they deem better to enhance performance, they are at the mercy of the policy makers up there. But at de private sector its done there. Private schools have an owner or two who may do everything possible to make students pass, icluding buying of exam papers..worked there a decade ago so i have facts. Now in terms of motivation i see it to be a verg vital instrument for institutional development. Note here, tbe issue is not about salary but conditions of service. How well do you motivate teachers in terms of allowances. Government brought in retention premium as a way of motivation but thats not enough beacuse when you check your payslip the tax we pay is higher than the premium.It is true that the private teachers have little salary but allowancea they get af the end of the term are quite very motivating. Most workers have poor salaries but have improved allowances and good conditions of service. So i think that aspect should be looked at again
YES, good pay == good service. Ghanaians should get out of this awkward mentality. There is a "Subsidy mentality", prevailing on all, including govt and workers alike. Why should the govt provide accommodation, so a person can be appeased to work? Is money not an incentive? Should the govt care where I put my head to rest? If so, pay the money, and I'ii certainly get myself a descent place. Generally, one can say most workers are matured adults. That being the case, why does the govt, or an employer wish to pay for any other, than their earned salary? Colonial masters introduced this, to entice the then govt worker to stay in the country and work. These workers were primarily Abrofo. Hence it was reasonable to compensate them, over and above what they would have been paid, if they worked in their home countries. It is hardly the case now. Workers are WAY underpaid, with the notion "you get this", "you get that". This is BS. PAY the MONEY!
the statement by the teachers rep is very unfortunate to say the least. Using teachers inadequate motivation as the reason for the poor results in our school is very sad a worry for our education sector. most Private school at the Junior school level get better grades the public schools but the teachers at these private schools whose teachers are sometimes senior school graduate are paid small amount salary as compared to the teachers in our public schools. so please teachers motivation can and will never be the reason for poor results.