By Ibraheem Daramy
Improving on the welfare of teachers was quite prominent in president Julius Maada Bio’s run to the presidency. One key promise that stood out was the reward set aside for off springs of teachers who have served without interruptions for a specific number of years. It said, the state will sponsor their undergraduate education. But the proposed scheme died at its inception. The chatter of subjecting potential beneficiaries to paternal sequencing does not look like our own way of life. As a communal people, every child under your roof is equal to the one you biologically fathered. So instead of signing up to something that would result to the alienation of some members of their families, just a few of them ever attempted. I’ll need to dig deep to see how many of the very few ever received consideration.
Proponents of the government will argue of progressive increasements, but the teachers will have none of it. With the cost of living hitting the roof, it would require an increase of monumental proportion to march it. The most pragmatic spenders will still find themselves pennyless just two (2) after receiving their monthly pay checks. Out of every ten (10) school children polled on what they want to be after graduation, not a single one (1) of them gave their vote to teaching. Maybe that would explain why some of the latest recruits in the profession are not motivated. It is common place to hear them describe the classroom a waiting place for wherever the grass seems to be much greener.
The other commendable initiative the current political administration introduced is the Presidential National Best Teacher Award (PNBTA). It was such a massive event, because it is no longer the case. Interviews for teachers starts from district, region, and then climax with the revelation of the winners for the various categories. The date for the awards is the fifth of October, a day set aside by the United Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to celebrate these selfless people. Up to the third awards since the inaugural one, the country will be in stitches to know who the winners are. But honestly, the last three (3) have lacked the ingredients that left everybody talking about this commendable initiative. There were meetings and street marches of education stakeholders, jingles, flyers, etc. Most teachers, unsurprisingly, only knew about this year’s event because, their lobby, the Sierra Leone Teachers Union (SLTU) is holding elections for various executive positions across the country on the same day.
Just like any other professional group in the low pay grade bracket, our anti-graft agency, the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), will find its work cut out if they express doubt on the achievements of our teachers. The ACC will just have them arraigned for unexplained wealth. I can bet most of our teachers will be left scratching their heads to explain where the last meal came from – and when the next is going to come. These people are magicians per excellence. I’ve listened to the commissioner, Francis Ben Kaifala, categorising the fallout when he marched some teachers across major streets in the capital Freetwon, as his worst experience ever. They were said to be caught assisting students cheat in public examinations. The solidarity shown to the affected teachers was because the citizens thought the commission did not only cross a line, they also alleged cherry picking in the fight against corruption. There were songs filled with sarcasm directed at the commissioner. But to be fair , on the evidence of various corruption surveys, teachers have never made it to the top.
The criminal conditions of service not withstanding, the Teaching Service Commission’s (TSC) policy of hiring is something else altogether. Graduates without a certificate in education are barred from signing up for the pre recruitment examinations. I remember having a heated discussion with staff of the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) and the TSC in Bombali, on how their policy is keeping graduates in specialised subjects out of the classrooms. You talk about responding to the global call to digital learning, but you are shutting the door on Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) professionals – this doesn’t seem like marching action to rhetoric. The Muslim schools that were specifically established for the promotion of Islam are other victims of this policy. The pre hiring examination is written in English. Our Arabic teachers, the core of the motive of the founders of the schools, are automatically eliminated because they are not literate in English. As a consequence, retired Arabic teachers are not replaced.
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