By Mohamed Vandi in Kenema
Over 100 head teachers in the eastern province have gathered at the Ministry of Education in Kenema to register their dissatisfaction over the non-payment of school subsidy for more than three terms.
The angry teachers said some 115 primary schools risked closing down if payment of their subsidies delayed further.
Secretary of the group of aggrieved primary school heads, Alfred Tommy, said they had gone to see the deputy director of education, Claudius Wilson, to officially inform the government of their resolve to close down schools.
He said some 39 primary schools had not received their subsidies for about five terms, while 76 others had not received theirs for about three terms. He said: “The schools’ coffers have gone dry and there is no money to buy stationery.”
The chairman, head teachers’ council, Bosco Adu, told the deputy director of education that the situation in the schools was becoming unbearable. He said that while all efforts to get the minister on the said matter did not materialize, they would keep urging them to look into their plight before the situation degenerated further.
The Deputy Director Wilson urged the head teachers’ council to put their grievances in writing and assured that they would be looked into.
The angry teachers also met the Mayor of the Kenema City Council, Joseph Samba Kelfalla and registered their concerns.
One of the teachers, Francis Coker, asked the Mayor to take their case very seriously so that their pupils would benefit from quality education and threatened that they were going to sit down if the problem was not addressed.
The finance office in the council, Alfred Conteh, confirmed that government was yet to pay the said monies to the schools despite assurances. He promised to continue his contact with the finance department in Freetown.
The Mayor, however, assured the teachers that he would team up with the administrator to make the necessary arrangements that would speed up their payment. He pleaded with the aggrieved teachers not to close down school as it would tell negatively on the output of the pupils.
