The Ghana National Association of Teachers Ladies Society (GNATLAS) is calling for a 50% extra duty allowance as compensation and motivation for basic school teachers who handle early childhood pupils.
In a recent interview, GNATLAS chairperson for Gomoa East District, Abigail Darko, has emphasised that these teachers take on additional responsibilities and therefore deserve extra allowances.
She explained that, in the past, classrooms had caretakers in addition to the classroom teacher; the caretakers provided general care, feeding, supervision and other support. Those duties now fall entirely on teachers, who continue to teach while also providing general care, feeding and supervision.
“When you go to the KG for instance, formerly they used to have caretakers in the classrooms in addition to the teachers who teach but currently all those involved the classrooms are teachers who are teaching so they act as facilitators, they clean up the children, they feed them and do all sorts without any allowance,” he stated.
Darko said these extra responsibilities leave teachers physically exhausted and psychologically strained.
She urged the government to introduce an allowance for basic school teachers to motivate them, noting that the association has repeatedly pushed for implementation without success.
She indicated that GNATLAS intends to continue pressing the government until the allowance is implemented.
“I plead with the government to give some allowance to the basic school teachers to motivate them, from the Union’s point of view, they keep pushing during our last conference meeting, the then president, the general secretary spoke on it and since I am speaking on it now should tell you it has not been implemented so I’m pleading for it implementation, when we get the implementation we will stop talking about it,” she uttered.
Source: Vanessa Elizabeth Nkum
