Give JHS, SHS teachers books and research allowances – Dr. Phillip Kissi

Former Vice-Dean of students’ Co-coordinator, Director of Research, Innovation, and Development of the University of Education, Winneba, Dr. Philip Siaw Kissi has advocated the government to pay books and research allowances to teachers in junior and senior high schools. Speaking during this year's Teachers day celebration at Akosombo in the Asuagyaman District of the Eastern Region, he said the move would help prepare teachers adequately for lesson delivery to their pupils and students. Offering reasons for his call on the government to give allowances to teachers, the educationist explained that research was a vital exercise that enables teachers to acquire new knowledge and develop new understandings relating to teaching and learning of the subject. “The educators benefit through various types of research as it helps them in having a better understanding of the subject. The new knowledge further helps in improving the educational practices of teachers and professors,” he emphasized. According to the former Vice-Dean of students, teachers must not recycle lesson notes but rather develop more content out of the topics prescribed by the school curriculum. This, he furthered, can however be achieved if the teachers were adequately resourced through the book and research allowances. He argued: “Senior High School teachers can publish books out of the lesson notes they prepare for their students by compiling the daily lesson notes for the academic year for a year group of students. Lecturers at the Universities are paid with books and research allowance, this allowance can be extended to the Senior High Schools.” Recalling a previous government mortgage policy that enabled teachers to acquire homes through loans, he questioned the basis for the discontinuation of the policy which has made acquiring homes by teachers difficult. He said, "Previously, there was a government mortgage policy for teachers in basic schools and senior high schools where the government had a partnership with the estate agencies which enabled teachers to acquire houses and pay over a period.” Dr. Kissi also expressed regret over the lack of fuel allowance for teachers in basic schools, a privilege he said their counterparts teaching at higher levels of the educational levels enjoy. “Teachers at the lower levels don’t enjoy fuel allowance while their counterparts at the other levels of education receive car maintenance allowances,” he said. Agreeing with Dr. Philip Siaw Kissi’s call, chairman of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) in the Asuagyaman District, Mr. Harrison Mompi noted that the teaching profession was evolving and new teaching methods were required to keep up with the pace. “What Dr. Philip Siaw Kissi said is wholly true, the world is changing and so teachers must also change their methods of teaching to bring development to the field,” said Mr. Mompi who doubles as the headmaster of the Frankadua D/A JHS, adding that though teachers visit various sites such as YouTube in search of content, they lack the logistics such as computers or projectors through which to relay the information to the students. Mr. Mompi said: “The teachers visit Youtube alright, but at the end of the day, there is nothing in the school to help the teacher transmit the visuals to the students. At the end of the day, the teachers are forced to resort to using their phones to teach the students.” The GNAT chairman also expressed regret over the non-implementation of basic privileges of teachers, adding that the situation was resulting in teachers no longer being willing to teach in the rural areas as recruitments were no longer done at the district level but rather at the national level. According to him, the teaching profession was no longer attractive as teachers teaching in rural settings were not receiving their deprived allowances. According to him, other challenges such as the lack of promotions, non-implementation of the collective agreement, discontinuation of the free duty on vehicles for teachers, and absence of a welfare desk among others served as disincentives to teachers. Describing the teaching profession as the heartbeat of the nation, Mr. Mompi called on the government to provide teachers with the right incentives to help improve their living. About World Teachers’ Day World Teachers’ Day is held annually on October 5, to celebrate all teachers around the globe, celebrate how teachers are transforming education, reflect on the support they need to fully deploy their talent and vocation, and to rethink the way ahead for the profession.