By: Ilyasa Baa
The Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education has assured that the 21 days strike notice issued by the Sierra Leone Teachers’ Union (SLTU) will not in any way affect the ongoing West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Dr. David Moinina Sengeh was reacting to misinformation on social media that the fact that a strike notice has been issued, there is tendency that the exams would halt. He has expressly said he is aware of the challenges teachers are facing noting that the negotiations are going on having to study profusely the fifteen chapter document on the welfare of teachers.
He said due diligence has to be followed so that at the end of the day there will be a comprehensive policy on teachers’ welfare that will stand the test of time.
“We are not buying time as far this negotiation is concerned. We need to consult with the Ministry of Labor, Finance and the Law Officers Department to do proper checking regarding what the Union is asking for on behalf of teachers”, Dr. Sengeh stated,adding that teachers or pupils should not take advantage of the situation by not teaching the kids.
He said there is no justification for that the reason being the negotiations is ongoing, and that the government has an open door policy and this is not the first time they have gone to the table to negotiate; citing that in 2019 the negotiation the ministry had with them turned out successful with 30% increment in the salaries of teachers.
However, the SLTU is asking for 195% increment in total for the 36,000 teachers on government payroll. The total number of teachers in country is estimated at 82,000 with about 35,000 still volunteering and 37% only have the required training skills to teach. Government has trained 24,000 teachers. Recently, 250 Vice Principals were promoted to the position of Principal across the country.
It could be recalled that the government had given three weeks to study the bulky document and it was resolved that teachers would render their services especially to the ongoing WASSCE.
