Teachers in rural areas to receive 20% salary incentive — Mahama

John Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has pledged to implement a twenty percent allowance for teachers in rural areas.

He stated that this initiative will encourage and motivate teachers to accept postings to these regions.

In a live Facebook address, Mahama said, “Teachers who agree to serve in a rural school will be paid 20 percent of their salary as incentives. This will encourage teachers to accept postings in rural schools.”

Many communities have suffered from a shortage of teachers due to the reluctance of trained educators to accept rural postings.

Although the allowance was proposed decades ago, it has yet to be implemented.

Last month, hundreds of teachers in the Volta Region marched through the streets of Ho to highlight their concerns to stakeholders.

Teachers from three unions—the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana (CCT-GH)—united to voice their grievances, causing traffic in the Ho Municipality to be rerouted.

Nearly 100 police officers were deployed to manage the demonstrators, who wore red mourning clothes and held placards.

Some of the messages on the placards read “Teachers are not beggars,” “We also deserve our allowances as teachers,” “Treat teachers with decency,” and “Our take-home can’t take us home.”

The protest march started at the Ho Central Market and ended at the Volta Regional Coordinating Council, where a petition was presented to the government through the Regional Minister.