October 5 Is Teacher Appreciation Day!

October 5 2006 is dedicated to teachers the world over. I SALUTE YOU FELLOW TEACHERS!

From time immemorial, teaching has been a noble profession. From the days of Socrates to the time of Paul of the Bible students/graduates had spoken highly of their teachers (also called masters in some instances). The Holy Bible mentions teaching as one of the three top spiritual gifts from God that we must desire most for the growth of His church (read 1 Corth. 12:28). Interesting! Teachers make the medical doctors, the lawyers, the accountants, the engineers, the agriculturalists, the musicians, the pastors, the politicians, the nurses, the computer analysts and many other workers who contribute effectively to the building of a nation anywhere. This noble profession which propels education should not be seen at loggerheads with the main provider of education to the detriment of students and parents as being reported from Ghana With the headline: TEACHER STILL AT STRIKE! Government appeals to GNAGRAT. One may think that strike is the only tool workers can use to force governments to resolve workers’ problems. How true! This idea has been allowed to cripple the noble profession of teaching too. How unfortunate!
As a teacher, both in Ghana (from 1973 to 1995) and in Canada since 2000, I congratulate teachers throughout the world and especially in Ghana and Canada for their good work on this Teacher Appreciation Day. Bravo teachers! However, I use this same opportunity to review the struggle between this noble profession and governments of Ontario-Canada and Ghana The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) Situation;
Some years back the situation at TDSB as far as teachers were concerned was very appalling. However, since the McGuinty government in Ontario the situation has changed. Though as I write the TDSB is yet to balance its budget, a situation the government is helping to resolve. Fortunately, the ETT and the TDSB, with the assistance of mediator reached a tentative settlement on Wednesday, June 4, 2003. The tentative settlement is subject to ratification by ETT members by June 12, 2003. A communiqué issued on June 4, 2003 by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) to Toronto elementary public school teachers, states among others, “We have reached this settlement because of ETT members’ determination to achieve fair compensation and benefits along with protection against arbitrary and unreasonable increases in non-teaching supervision time.” ETT members voted on June 12, 2003 to accept the tentative agreement reached between their union and the TDSB. Highlights of the 2-year term agreement include:
• Salary increase of 7.28% (compounded end rate increase). This salary increase is retroactive to September 2002.
• The Board will maintain the October 30, 2002, levels of scheduled supervision for teachers within each school for the 2003-2004 school year.
• New teacher’s probationary period is shortened to one year to two years.
• The Board endorses the concept of efficient and productive staff meetings held at reasonable intervals.
• The restriction on teachers working for another employer while on an unpaid leave of absence is removed. However, work for another employer while on an unpaid leave of absence will not count as “related experience” or “teaching experience” for salary purposes.
The Situation as in Ghana:
The situation in Ghana is now turbulent as Graduate Teachers in the country demand a rise in their pay. “Cleaners take more pay than teachers!” This calls for the question: Are Teachers Asking for Too Much of the National Cake? As much as I would appreciate incentive packages for teachers who work in rural or “needy” communities, I would like to see a comprehensive appraisal and overhauling of conditions of service for teachers to make them more dedicated to the profession they have chosen. This should include teacher training and in-service training for serving teachers. One would argue, they knew the profession before entering it. It’s a sacrificial job! Well, how long should teachers (obviously, makers of the all workers who build the national economy) be made to sacrifice their welfare and quality of education at the altar of the national cake? Could teachers be asking for too much? Should our education systems be made to suffer by disagreements between governments and teachers’ unions? Is there any better way of ending teachers’ strikes other than legislating them back to work?
Conclusion:
The situation is bad. Students and parents are suffering. Are teachers in Ghana as in Ontario also asking for too much or is the Ghana government becoming negligent towards the welfare of teachers and the quality of education in that country as a whole? The best investment any country could make for its younger generation is to invest in quality and inclusive education.
I call on my good friend, Mr. Nsowah, a teacher by profession who is now the Director General of Education in Ghana to help resolve the problem between GNAGRAT and government of Ghana amicably.
Together we must fight to give our children everywhere the education they need. Knowledge is Power, but ignorance is a disease!