By Nelson Manneh
Teachers who embarked on a sit-down strike on Monday 2nd December 2024 for not receiving their November salaries yesterday returned to their classrooms to teach as the Gambia Teachers Union (GTU) called off the strike.
In a press release issued on Monday 2nd December 2024 by the Gambia Teachers Union, the union informed its membership that the Government has finally met its obligations by disbursing the outstanding November 2024 salaries for Grant-aided/SSS Board Schools and the First Term School Improvement Grant (SIG) for Mission Schools.
The Teachers Union on Friday, 29 November 2024 declared a sit-down strike over delayed November salaries for Grant-aided schools and unpaid School Improvement Grants for mission schools. The union further indicated that if the government does not meet its obligation, teachers in other schools will stand in solidarity with the affected ones.
In all the schools visited by this reporter, teachers could be seen in their various classes teaching their students. Lessons were going on, but in some of the classes, the student turnout was poor.
Students also expressed their frustration, saying education is as important as other sectors. They said the government should prioritise them in terms of respecting their rights by paying their teachers’ salaries on time.
“We are not prioritized as teachers, that’s why the government delays our payment. Teachers are not respected in this country,” an anonymous teacher at Daddy Jobe Senior Secondary School told this reporter.
The anonymous teacher said teaching is seen as a trade for the poor which is why they are not considered in anything.
“They give us knowledge that shapes us, hence, the government should see them as one of the most important elements in terms of development and they should be respected,” a student at Kairaba Senior Secondary School said.
