TEACHERS DESERVE BETTER (FEB 5)

Education plays a key role in the development process of any society. The economy of a country can only grow through the proper use of human and material resources. In short, a skilled manpower holds the key to any social transformation.
That is why in many countries a huge portion of the budget is devoted to the educational sector. In Ghana, the situation is the same. From pre-colonial days to date, our governments have done their best to position education in such a way as to lead the agenda for development.
We may not be far from right when we say that the problems that continue to confront the educational sector do not arise out of the want of trying. Maybe our attempts so far to put the necessary structures in place for the educational sector to lead in our search for development have not been the best so far.
It is, however, heart-warming that our governments have tried to give more attention to the sector. Nonetheless, reports that about 2,600 teachers re-engaged into the Ghana Education Service (GES) have not received their salaries are quite worrying.
Every year, newly recruited teachers go through similar challenges in getting their salaries paid to them by their employer, the GES. These days, delays in getting teachers and other public servants paid have been attributed to the incompatibility of the software used for that purpose.
One wonders why the problem of the non-payment of the salaries of teachers keeps recurring when we know that the problem is likely to affect the morale of teachers and impact negatively on their output. The standards of education are falling at all levels and the least our educational administrators can do is not to compound the problem but be seen to be concerned about it.
The DAILY GRAPHIC knows that teachers alone will not promote quality education if other stakeholders, such as parents, guardians and the communities, do not play a part. But the saying, “If you can read and write, thank the teacher,” emphasises the important role of teachers in the educational sector.
In the past, a teacher was given the due recognition in any community because he or she was seen as an opinion leader. Unfortunately, parents, pupils and even the government have, through their acts of commission or omission, undermined the integrity of the teacher.
We are not oblivious to some of the activities of teachers themselves that have eroded the confidence that society used to repose in them. Some teachers in the cities, towns and villages desert their classrooms to undertake personal ventures at the expense of the schoolchildren.
But the ritual of the non-payment of the salaries of teachers cannot be allowed to continue if the teacher must help society to attain the goals of education. When pay vouchers were prepared manually in the past, teachers did not go through the “torture” of working without pay.
It is untenable to recruit teachers and yet refuse to pay them just because of technical problems. Also, it is unacceptable to recruit teachers when the GES knows that the authorities have placed an embargo on employment.
The DAILY GRAPHIC therefore calls on the government to intervene in this matter so that the affected teachers can receive their legitimate reward for their services to the nation.