Teachers are underpaid in Ghana, the President of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers, Ghana, King Ali Awudu, has said. He described the situation as unfortunate, given that teachers put in so much effort to impart knowledge to young ones yet retire as very poor people.
“Teachers all over Ghana are underpaid. It is unfortunate that teachers will put in their all to impart knowledge to younger generations and retire as paupers,” he said while speaking in an interview with TV3’s Kemmini Amanor on Sunday, April 7.
Regarding the government’s programme, the One Student One Tableit initiative for senior high schools, he called for an extension of this initiative to basic schools as well. He said that basic schools, which formed the critical aspect of the education ladder, have not seen much investment.
He said this while expressing concerns that the government is paying too much attention to investments in senior high schools at the expense of basic schools. He said “The government is not pumping so much money as it is being pumped into the senior high schools. When it comes to the SHS, the feeding that is given to them alone surpasses the money that is supposed to be paid to pupils in basic schools per annum.
So if you come to SHS the amount of money the government spends on feeding and other perishables per student, per day is just like the money that the government spends per pupil per year in the basic schools.
“Recently, you heard about the government’s wish to establish smart senior high schools and the purchase of some 1.3 million tablets at the cost of about 320 million dollars for SHS students, that is a lot of money and there is nothing wrong with that. The schools must be equipped but in every building the foundation is key. If the pupil is not well brought up at the Kindergarten, not well brought up at the primary, not well brought up at the JHS, they will get to the SHS deficient. ”
King Ali Awudu further expressed worry about the frustrations that headteachers are going through in the line of their work. He says the headmasters are unable to voice out their frustrations for fear of being dismissed. He said, “No headteacher can come and sit here and make this discussion with you, he will leave here and go and his dismissal letter will be waiting for him.”
In the area of teaching environment, he said ” you go to the schools and you are astonished as a Ghanaian, you ask whether this setting is qualified to be a classroom.” Ali Awudu further expressed concerns about how the education sector in Ghana is being used for politics. In his view, no sector in Ghana is used for politics more than the education sector.
This, he said, must stop.
“In this country, there is no sector that is used for politics more than the educational sector,” he said. He further stated that headmasters are unable to voice out the frustrations they go through in the line of their work for fear of being dismissed. Regarding the salaries of teachers, Ali Awudu said when asked whether teachers in Ghana earn up to GHS3000, ” For being in the service for 19 years and with a second degree I earn GHS4066.”
By: Laud Nartey
