Former Upper East Regional Minister, Rockson Bukari is decrying the poor living conditions of teachers in the country.
Speaking on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show on Friday, July 1, 2022, Mr Bukari said we will have a healthy nation when teachers are handled with respect and dignity. He added that teachers can only remain vibrant if their living conditions are improved.
“The way teachers are being handled today, to me personally, it is not good. Teachers are training the youth. They are building a generation to take over this country so teachers should be handled with some sort of respect; dignity. When you don’t handle the teacher well, it’s not fine. They need proper pay, accommodation.”
The status of teachers and the status of education are closely related. Mr Bukari noted that teachers can only impart knowledge when they have peace of mind.
Two teacher unions, the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) recently served notice of their intention to strike by the end of June over delays in the payment of their Cost of Living Allowance (COLA). The unions said teachers are suffering in the wake of the economic hardships in the country.
Mr Rockson who is also a former teacher says “all that is happening, they should build houses for teachers, pay them properly because they are taking care of our youth; the future leaders of this country.”
He noted that there is a lot of duplication in the system and that should be addressed.
“There’s a lot of duplication in this society. Instead of setting up departments to work under one umbrella, they’re setting so many things and money is being used left and right, up and down.”
The former Minister of state also bemoaned the growing indiscipline among school children and said a well-paid teacher can be a catalyst for change in the growing indiscipline.
“If we want to change this society and bring about at least humility, attitude change then the teacher should be the centre of everything.”
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Osuman Kaapore Tahiru|Ghana
