Over 300 teachers threaten go-slow

With less than a month left for the reopening of schools across the Country, over 300 public school teachers in Bong County are threatening a go-slow if government fails to meet their demands.

Our correspondent says these teachers under the banner ‘Supplementary Teachers Association,’ have threatened to boycott classes if their status is not regularized and paid certain benefits they were denied.

They insisted in a recent press conference that before the reopening of 2018/2019 school year, they want to be issued their Biometric ID Cards; receive their benefits of US$25.00 increment of 2012; the post – Ebola LRD$2,000.00 increment; the December 2017 LRD$3,000.00 increment and the 25 percent increment made in the 2018/2019 budget for teachers.

The Supplementary Teachers insist that they want the Ministry of Education (MoE) to place them on government’s payroll, arguing that they have faithfully served the government as Supplementary Teachers with a very low wage.

Two officials of the group in person of Josiah B. Kollie and Olu T. Vesselee say they are government – trained teachers from various teacher training institutions around the country.

According to them, they have been teaching at separate public schools of assignment within Bong County for an unspecified period.

“Over the years, we have supported the Ministry of Education’s efforts in preparing Liberian children for a better Liberia. With diligence, we have maintained and regulated the Ministry’s policies without distinction,” the group maintains.

The group notes that despite all of these efforts that they have applied, they are yet to obtain full employment with the government.

According to the aggrieved teachers, the supplementary payroll is an emergency payroll intended for short time before one can be employed by the government, but they complain that for over a decade, some of them have been placed on the supplementary payroll.

Out of frustration, these teachers are saying they believe that the government is being allegedly tyrannical to them and has totally violated their labor rights through the Ministry of Education.

They however assure that they remain committed to serving their country, but warn that their service must be regarded and appreciated in a genuine and truthful manner.

By Joseph Titus Yekeryan in Bong –Edited by Winston W. Parley