By Jacob Onuha Nelson
Teacher’s professional union has decried the inadequate and delay of salary payment stating it impact the teaching profession
Speaking during the commemoration of the international teacher’s day on Monday in Juba under theme “teachers make lives better”.
Garang Deng Chol, chairperson of the National teachers Union emphasized teachers face challenges as they receive inadequate salary.
“The salaries paid to the teachers are not enough. Not only that, we also have a problem that is small, but they are not paid on time. The salaries are delayed for long,” Deng noted.
Deng said teachers are paid differently according to states, highlighting that some had gone several months without being paid.
“Some have gone with more than 9 months in other state and whereas other states stay for more than 15 months” he said.
He expressed that teachers have inadequate delivery of learning aids that could help teachers perform their duties in the classroom.
“We have inadequate provision of teaching and learning aids, and others. So, those are the challenges facing teachers, which make it difficult for them to perform well in classroom,” he noted
On her part, Joyce Chanrose Adiya, a state teacher’s professional union of Central Equatoria State underscored teachers has been passing through a lot of hardship for a year plus some months without being paid.
“It is one year and seven months that we have never been paid. Some teachers abandoned teaching because they get low salary, if that stops some will come back to their profession” she stated
Chanrose underlined that teachers don’t give up but bear the condition of teaching, citing that some often go to private schools to teach and come back to government schools to sustain their lives in the profession
“We can teach private schools, then also we come back to the government schools. That’s how we sustain our lives,” she stated.
Meanwhile, James Pitia, a student representative from Supiri Secondary School, raised concern to government officials to pay their teachers, saying teachers have not been giving what was expected.
“We, students, teachers and my colleagues are suffering. We made education as business sector because education has to be our priority by paying them their rights as stipulated in the constitution,” Pitia said.
Pitia stated that teachers often don’t attend lessons due to delayment of salary, when asked a teacher.
“Why are you not giving salary to teachers, they say we don’t have salary. why should they teach while their children are suffering at home,” he wept on stage while delivering the speech.
Teachers in South Sudan have been facing a dire situation characterized by delayed and inadequate salaries, high levels of under-qualification and poor working conditions, that led to high attrition rates.