Bong County Teachers on Go-Slow

Teachers in Bong County have threatened to lay down their chalks beginning Monday, 18 November until the government addresses several demands they have. The teachers, who have already issued a public service announcement in the county asking their colleagues not to attend classes, accused the government of being careless about their plight.

Among their demands, the Bong County teachers called for the reinstatement of some of their colleagues whose names were deleted from the payroll, regularization of the status of re-placees and the payment of all teachers by the government according to their qualifications.

They also demanded that all teachers assigned by the Ministry of Education not paid, be paid and placed on the payroll. The Bong County teachers also emphasized their retroactive pay promised by the president.

Some of the teachers told this station in Gbarnga, Bong County that they were setting up a task force to visit schools to ensure that no teacher is in the classroom teaching, noting that they have had too many compromises with government, and will not drop their demands until they are satisfactorily addressed. They vowed not to go to Monrovia for any negotiation on grounds that anyone interested in negotiating must meet them in the county.

Few weeks ago, some teachers of the Gbarnga School District threatened to hold a demonstration before the Foreign Ministry to draw President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’s attention to their concerns on ground that the Ministry of Education has not been giving them attention.