Once again the ‘real’ unsung heroes of our dear nation Ghana managed to hit the headlines. Hurray! Politicians? No! I am talking about Ghanaian teachers! Funny how quick we seem to forget about them considering the fact that we thrive on politics thrice three times daily! Yes that’s the minimum dosage of politics infesting our lives immediately we wake up every blessed day!
I read with keen interest and pity a story about ‘donation of motorbikes’ to a section of teachers. Well, before I move further let me commend the government’s efforts.
Teachers, I believe are unfairly treated in this nation from time immemorial. Not only do they have to commute to work listening to the lawyers, doctors (and of course politicians!) on the radio (if they can even afford it), they have to go through the ‘mental ordeal’ of seeing the kind of ‘preferential’ treatment being meted out to some of them (doctors especially!!).
Don’t get me wrong here! I am not comparing the significance of the two professions! All I’m saying is that we continue to donate cars and residential flats to doctors whiles forgetting that they were not ‘self trained’! They were not born doctors nor were you dear reader, born literate and well educated to read and pass thought provoking comments about people’s articles!
The NPP government is bent on making sure that education is free and accessible to all in the country. They have done exemplary well in this direction and I think a greater sense of awareness to educate our children has been created in this nation thanks to the government’s efforts.
Admittedly, there are still a lot of children on our streets and this is largely due to the canker of poverty in our country. As I listened to Kofi Annan’s address in Parliament, he admits that Ghana is making some progress in poverty reduction. It is heartwarming to know that a great mind like his admits that Ghana is making some progress now.
Busummuru Annan said the recent World Bank governance indicators demonstrated Ghana's progress in accountability; political stability; government effectiveness; rule of law and control of corruption. He said that Ghana had lived through many ups and downs since it attained independence in 1957, with economic shocks and near collapse in the early 1980s, but the fortunes seemed to be moving in the right direction.
"Our fortunes seem to be moving in the right direction, with growth rates of around six per cent a year in virtuous cycle that has reduces poverty incidence from 52 per cent in 1992 to 35 per cent in 2003. "And this is not the end, for Ghana, is set to surpass the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015."
Dear reader, there is no developing country that can develop without investing in its core professionals especially teachers. They are the backbone of the human resource needed to generate the growth and advancement the great Busummuru talks about.
I urge government to improve the living conditions of teachers especially those in the rural areas. The air conditioned cars can continue to be given to our angelic doctors but at least provision of residential facilities to teachers should be intensified and good salaries paid to ensure a high level of quality education prevails in this nation. There is still hope for them and Ghana’s future.
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