By Tabora Bojang
Africa-Press – Gambia. The president of the Gambia Teachers Union (GTU), Ismaila Ceesay, has vowed to call teachers to go on strike unless graduate allowance are paid to teachers in grant-aided schools with a drawback by the end of the month.
Ceesay criticised the discrepancy and inconsistency in the payment of salaries and allowances to teachers since the 30 percent salary increment by the government in January.
He alleged that since “graduate allowances were revised for Grade 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 salary earners within the teaching fraternity, teachers who are in the subvented schools haven’t received their updated allowances from January 2025 while those in the mainstream have been receiving theirs.”
He added that this has caused “a lot of concern” in the teaching fraternity and that his union has been engaging the government with no fruition.
“We want to know why the differential treatment. Even with salary payments, teachers in subvented schools receive theirs very late but those in mainstream schools receive theirs early. Why should there be that preferential treatment?” he queried, blaming the ministries of finance and public service for the anomaly.
According to him the government had made a strong commitment to end the delay in salary and allowance payments among other issues faced by schools and teachers following a high stakes meeting hosted by the vice president and attended by the ministers of finance, public service, the presidency, the National Security Adviser and the permanent secretary at Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.
“Following that meeting, salaries for January were paid on time but after that salaries of subvented schools were delayed including those for this April. I want to warn the government that we are no longer accepting this. If salaries of subvented schools are delayed this month and graduate allowances not paid, we are not ruling out a strike and this time around it will be indefinite and non-negotiable.
“Graduate allowances or professional allowances are paid to teachers who are university graduates. I see this as a deliberate move by the government to frustrate teachers in that sector. But let them be ready for us. And if this allowances are not paid back by the end of May with a drawback from January, we would have no option but to go on a strike,” Ceesay warned.
Ceesay claimed schools have been grappling problems galore because government has not prioritised the education sector.
“We are into the third term and until now Grade 10 students have not been supplied with their textbooks and this is greatly affecting the teaching and learning at senior secondary schools,” he alleged.
He also accused the government for failing to increase the Schools Improvement Grant which helps schools to financially address their basic needs, including payment of ancillary staff and provision of teaching and learning materials since its inception in 2013.
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