Teacher motivation poor - Orleans-Lindsay

Government must provide attractive remuneration and incentives to teachers in the various public schools to serve as motivation for better performance, educationist Dr Kofi Orleans-Lindsay has said.

Dr Orleans-Lindsay believes such an arrangement would help attract more qualified teachers to impart knowledge to raise the quality of education in Ghanaian public schools.

“Give teachers the necessary incentives to do what they need to do. … These days, teachers are not being paid [adequately] and when you compare yourself to others in other professions, [it is demoralising],” the economist and former lecturer at Oxford University indicated on the Executive Breakfast Show on Monday, 13 February.

His comments come in the wake of an announcement by President Nana Akufo-Addo that the Free SHS policy by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) will commence in September 2017.

“Sometimes, a year or two and teachers have not been paid salaries,” he lamented, adding that it was vital for teachers to be well catered for if the country was to make gains in education.

Chartered economist Gilbert Ibrahim, who was a co-panellist said teachers have a portion of their salaries deducted to pay for rent in the bungalows provided them by government.

According to him, it is unfair that “10 per cent of their salaries” be deducted for such purposes. He added that the advent of the Single Spine Pay Policy gave professionals in other fields an added advantage over teachers in terms of allowances and wages.

“Teachers have no allowance but other professionals have allowances that could even double their salaries,” he said, indicating that teacher motivation must be considered if the country wants to make gains in the educational sector.