Alliance Francaise teachers angry over poor salaries

Teachers at Alliance Frangaise, a bilingual training insti­tute in Accra, have threat­ened to embark on an indefinite strike if management of the institute fails to increase their salaries.

Djaba Satchi, Coordina­tor of the Professional Sec­tion, in an interview with BUSINESS GUIDE, said the condition of service of staff of Alliance Frangaise was awful.

"Currently, some of the teachers at the school receive as low as GHc 100 a month. This amount is woefully inadequate and can't take care of our every­day needs, as some of us have wives and children to take care of," he said.

Satchi advised manage­ment of the institution to, as a matter of urgency, increase their salaries or prepare for a strike, stating "we will not take any amount below GHc 15 per hour. That is the minimum amount we the teachers are demanding.

He accused the Director of the Institute, Patrice Gilles, of refusing to improve the plight of teach­ers.

He alleged that Gilles had sacked some of the teachers without any tangi­ble reason and refused to pay them, stressing that as a result, some teachers had dragged him to court.

Satchi claimed that the Director had appointed for­eigners to occupy positions reserved for Ghanaians in the school, stressing that they were being paid huge salaries.

"This is not right and he must stop. Those positions are exclusively for Ghana­ians.

Raymond Kwawu of the External Projects Department and a member of the working committee at the institute, said "We are ready to go any length to ensure that we receive the right amount. If by close of today he is unable to increase our salaries, then the strike will begin."

Information gathered from the school indicated that students from neigh­bouring Francophone countries pay 1,380 Euros a year for any of the profes­sional courses while stu­dents from Ghana and other English-speaking countries pay GHc1,200 a year.

Between GHc 300 and GHc 400 is charged for normal English studies covering a period of six months while companies, who request for extra services from teachers, pay $35 per hour.