General Secretary for the National Association for Private Schools (GNAPS), Justice Essel has intimated that most teachers in preparatory schools are paid salaries according to the location of the school.
He made these assertions in an interview on Happy Morning Show with Samuel Eshun.
‘’School fees taken in the private school is dependent on the social status and the location of the school. Generally, teachers are not well paid even in the private sector.’’
According to him, the motivation of teachers to keep impacting society with their craft is based on the success of their students.
‘’Motivation comes from the performance of the students, for instance a child you once taught becoming a doctor. When you meet a student somewhere in town and he acknowledges you or helps you in some way it’s encouraging and helps in recovering. When a child acknowledges your effort by giving you gifts. When you see a student prosper after school’’ he said.
He bemoaned how the lack of incentives and the poor conditions of service make them look like failures as compared to their counterparts in other fields.
‘’It’s heartbreaking, when we meet our former classmates becoming successful in other professions other than teaching. We sat in the same class, but because they didn’t become teachers, they are able to live comfortably giving their children the best education money can buy. The teacher on the other hand cannot enjoy such privileges’’ he said.
He recounted how teachers’ salaries were slashed and some earning as little as GHc 200.00 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he however believes teachers are up to the task when given the needed support.
It can be recalled that the four main unions in education, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Coalition of Concern Teachers (CCT) and the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) issued an ultimatum to the government to reverse its decision to pay four percent as increment in the salary base pay for 2021 which was scheduled to take effect starting July 1, 2021 without the payment of arrears.
By: Louisa Antiede Tetteh.
