By Albert Sheriff
President of the Sierra Leone Teachers’ Union, Abdulia Koroma has told this year’s celebration of World Teachers' Day in Freetown that “even though teachers teach Doctors, Lawyers, Politicians and more, the paradox is that teachers are the downtrodden.”
He said this at a national political parties’ symposium at the British Council auditorium in Freetown to mark the day last week.
Koroma observed that “teachers must be recognised socially as well as economically,” arguing that the driving forces behind programmes in any country were the teachers.
The SLTU president said that “teachers teach democracy, which is the cornerstone of modern politics, hence all components of democracy are thought by teachers”.
Commenting on this year’s theme: “Taking a stand for teachers”, acting secretary general of SLTU, Morris Conteh highlighted the provision of adequate training, on-going professional development, adequate remuneration and protection of teachers' rights as some of the stands the country ought to take.
He said all over the world quality education offered hope and a promise of a better standard of living, adding that there could be no quality education without competent and motivated teachers.
Conteh argued that teachers were among the many factors that would keep children in school and influence learning. “Teachers help students think critically, process information from several sources, work cooperatively, tackle problems and make informed choices.”
Speaking at the symposium were the People’s Democratic Party, the Peace and Liberation Party (PLP), the Citizens Democratic Party (CDP) and the Sierra Leone People’s Party.
In his presentation the National Secretary General of the PDP Musa Tuni Bangura said that if his party won the November polls, premium would be on teachers.
The running-mate of the SLPP, Dr. Kadie Sesay, said that there should be high focus on the status, morale and motivation of teachers.
In what she called her party’s “new direction for education,” Dr Sesay said their specific actions would include improving the conditions of service for teachers and specifically initiating a scheme for science
teachers and teachers in remote areas.
She promised that the president would not be the Chancellor of the University of Sierra Leone because “it will politicise the University.”
National Youth Coordinator of the CDP, Victor King said, “teachers transfer knowledge of every kind and as a pragmatic youthful party the CDP will holistically review all aspects of working conditions associated with the noble profession through viable policies that are geared towards improving and providing better working conditions for teachers.”
Leader of PLP, Dr. Kandeh Baba Conteh said that his party would allocate a good portion of their budget to education, and would endeavour to avoid late payment of salaries. He said training of teachers would also be given priority through exchange programmes with other countries. The PLP leader said that they would take end-of-service benefit very seriously.
Meanwhile, SLTU’s zonal secretary in the west, Foday Kuyateh told Politico that the reason for choosing this year’s theme was to draw the attention of communities, government and other stakeholders to recognize the importance of teachers in society and to promote them.
