Teachers across the country have over the weekend demanded pay rise for their respective salaries. This emerged ahead of reopening of schools for start of third term of the academic year, which was expected to have commenced Monday 25 April 2022.In a bid to meet, sit and discuss the situation around their poor condition of service, teachers’ proposed meeting at the Bo Coronation Field was last Saturday 23 April this year rudely intercepted by armed police personnel for what was described as gathering without police clearance.
Their concerns ranging from poor condition of service, low salary amid inflation and hike in price of essential commodities, lack of allowances, healthcare, transportation, medical, wardrobe among allowances civil servants working with other public sectors agencies are entitled to.
These, they insists include hosts of other welfare demands teachers are simply asking the government to address if talks about free education were to meet the required target as a key priority of government’s development agenda.
In a letter dated, 20 April 2022, addressed to the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education by Movement for Teachers’ Welfare, the teachers categorically expressed their dissatisfaction over their low salary scale and poor condition of service.
The teachers registered their frustrations at the current state of affairs, and therefore urged government to give due consideration to their poor condition of service, with an attractive salary scale, as promised by President Julius Maada Bio during his campaign for the presidency that he will make the classroom attractive and enviable. Although that is yet to be realized four years plus down the line.
Speaking in a video at a point of police confrontation at Bo Coronation Field, Franklyn Momog said they only asking the government to meet their demands as it is happening in other public sectors.
He observed that since inflations is touching every aspects of livelihood the government should as well consider a pay rise for teachers to meet the trending hike in prices of essential commodities including staple food rice. Momoh added that teachers also deserve allowances in the areas of health, transportation and scholarships.
He vowed that the aforementioned issues are concerns they are battling with even though the Conference of Principles are not with them because of what they do receive directly and indirectly from government in the name of subsides.
He said making provision of everything to principals and pupils leaving teachers who are the actual resources persons in the whole policy driven process makes nonsense and it does not serves the right purpose of boosting the free education. Momoh therefore reiterated that if their demands are not met they won’t return to the classrooms.
It could be recalled that barely a year ago, vice president Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh announced for and on behalf of government that his administration had made 25% salary increment for teachers in Sierra Leone. This is not the talk and do thing the Bio-led government always brags of.
“Effective 1st April 2021, every lecturer in all public universities and polytechnics in Sierra Leone will receive 25% salary increase. He added that when the 25% in the 2021 budget is factored in their salaries the projected government expenditure on salaries for lecturers will be Two Hundred and Thirty-Five Billion Five Hundred and Eighty Leones”, said vice president Dr Jalloh.
