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Momodou
Denmark
11832 Posts |
 Posted - 08 Oct 2009 : 13:40:09
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Teacher Motivation in a State of Flux
By Sanna Camara
Teacher motivation in the Gambia has been in a state of flux as there are over 50 percent of them that rate their motivation levels as either low or very low.
According to a Policy Research Report on Teachers’ Motivation and Perception of their Profession in the Gambia, 28 percent of those interviewed would consider leaving the profession in the next five years to seek greener pastures.
Conducted by the Voluntary Service Organisation the Gambia and titled Teachers Speak Out, the report states that teachers feel they are not being appropriately remunerated for their services. It notes that teachers feel their current salary levels do not commensurate with living standards and unqualified teachers in particular feel their income is not enough to meet their basic needs and support their families.
“Although teachers enter the civil service salary scale at a higher grade than many other trained civil servants, in other ways they feel they do not have access to the same benefits,” the Report indicated.
The Report said to get an idea of how this fits in with the cost of living, one will have to consider the cost of a bag of rice: “A working member of a compound would be expected to contribute this, as a minimum, to the household every month. Teachers are also under pressure to support extended families, which increases their financial responsibilities,” it explained.
On the education statistics, the Report notes that enrolment rates within the Gambia are currently estimated at 91 percent, 15 percent of which is Madrassa enrolment. In 2005-6, 51.5 percent of Lower Basic School enrolment was girls. “It is estimated that to meet the global targets for education, The Gambia will need between 6, 700 and 8, 400 additional primary teachers by 2015. At present, there are 4, 479 teachers (including qualified and unqualified teachers, Koranic teachers and practising trainees).”
On quality education, the Report said The Gambia appears to be making good progress in Education for All, with enrolment rates standing at around 91 percent. “However, without improvements to the quality of education this is of minimal benefit to the population and the country as a whole,” it stated, indicating that another study looking at the learning achievements of students in The Gambia found that 10 percent of Grade 4 students were meeting the basic learning achievements for English and only 6.7 percent were meeting these achievements for Maths.
“Clearly, a large number of students were failing to meet the basic standards set by the education authorities,” it said, adding that results from the Grade 9 examinations suggest that the situation remains a serious concern.
On education financing, the Report said although education expenditure is currently the highest output expenditure for state-provided services in the Gambia, this falls short of the 20 percent recommended by UNESCO as the minimum percentage of government budget required to enable the progress towards achievement of the EFA goals.
“Research conducted by Pro-PAG in the Gambia considered that in previous years, the education sector was not spending these resources wisely with salaries only accounting for 62.9 percent of the budget in comparison to Sub-Saharan African average of 90 percent,” it said.
International financial institutions do not place specific caps on wage bills but caps in place on the public spending have a direct impact on the amount government can allocate to the payment of the public sector, it observed.
Source: The Daily News
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