The Gross Disrespect For Teachers Is Worrying

The age-old saying that all professions can boast but the teacher taught all of them remains incontestable. The Ghanaian teacher is being treated as a doormat by political leaders of this country particularly the incumbent government led by President Akufo-Addo.

There is one thing that is conspicuous particularly in the era of COVID-19. Parents of school-going children can attest without an iota of hesitation that the Ghanaian teacher is of significant importance not only to the students but also to the parents.

It is therefore unfathomable why the Akuffo Addo led government takes delight in taking teachers to the cleaners in this country. It is sad that President Nana Addo and his likes have progressively turned Ghana’s public education into mental prisons for the vast majority of the youth. We, therefore, need the sort of progressive education and mental transformation that will eliminate the cancer of ignorance and the yoke of professional discrimination.

Since the inception of the NPP government, there has not been any teacher-friendly policy that has the potency of benefiting the Ghanaian teacher. President Nana Akuffo Addo who thinks he is supremely more important than the mortal embodiment of wisdom and of intelligence is taking teachers for granted and that must be condemned in uncertain terms.

What is more denigrating and embarrassing to the teacher is the COVID-19 package Nana Addo's government has for Ghanaian teachers. The president in his latest COVID-19 address to the nation made a loud and clear pronouncement that the teacher would be given a hot meal to enable them to enforce and observe the COVID-19 precautionary measures in their respective schools. Meanwhile, we have the frontline health workers and some security agencies being paid allowances as well as enjoying some tax waivers.

Why is the teacher unqualified for either of these? The best thing teachers can get for teaching students in this Coronavirus era is just a hot meal. Oh my God! What an insult to the teachers. No matter how you belittle the Ghanaian teacher, some of us believe that teachers have superior knowledge which naturally makes them wise and smart. It is good that we are in an election year. Our elders have a saying that it is only a fool whose testicles are stepped on twice. Ghanaian Teachers will certainly prove that they are worth more than a hot meal in extraordinary times.

Furthermore, the shameful attempt to rob the poor teacher of his meager salary was initiated by the Akuffo Addo led government when they deliberately deducted Ghc10 from each teacher's salary even without the consent of the teacher. This shows how grossly disrespectful and insensitive this government is to the teacher.

Again, we had Nana Addo, the then-presidential candidate for NPP made mouthwatering promises to the Ghanaian teacher and Ghanaians at large. The teacher trainees of the various colleges of education were blatantly hoodwinked to fall prey into the cunning deceptive policies of Nana Addo and the NPP in the 2016 electioneering campaign. I am without a modicum of uncertainty that teacher trainees wouldn't have allowed their fattened cow to be exchanged with a dry skinny goat if they could foresee this wicked intention these people had for them. In fact, they would have jealously protected this invaluable cow of theirs but for the convenient game theory of political deception by the NPP.

As of today, we have lots of newly posted teachers who receive national service allowances instead of the normal fat salary a professionally trained teacher should be receiving. They could not foresee that their salary would be short-changed with meager national service allowances.

It is also a naked fact that these students never knew that they would be tasked to do mandatory national service. It took them by surprise and the union leaders for teachers virtually could do anything to save these newly trained teachers from doing national service. The worst of it all was that these teachers in the making were made to write licensure exams before they could be posted after the mandatory national service. What was unfortunate is that these trainees could not reverse the power they gave to Nana Addo and the NPP who are now the managers of this country.

More pathetic of these innocent newly trained teachers is that some of them have all the three certificates (DBE, Licensure certificate, and national service certificate) yet they remain unemployed. That is the level of frustration the Nana Addo led government can cause the Ghanaian teacher. It is worthy of note that President Akufo-Addo is a slimy historical revisionist, whose tendentious political and trademark rhetoric belittles Ghanaian teacher because his children and family members do not attend schools in Ghana.

Now we have virtually all the teachers regretting for voting for this wolf in sheep's skin. But that is the price we have to pay for believing in sweet talks. Our elders do say that if you follow too much the sweetness of honey, you will find its bitterness. That is exactly what we are experiencing now.

In conclusion, I want to use this opportunity to call on my friends in the chalk fraternity to reconsider their decision this year as we journey towards December 7. God has given you another chance to decide who you think cares for you and has you in mind. Thank you