May Day: Teachers are disenchanted over poor salaries – Carbonu

Angel Carbonu, the President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), has expressed concerns over the current plight of Ghanaian teachers.

He highlighted the dire living conditions many teachers endure, expressing deep distress over their current state of disenchantment and despondency.

In an interview with Bernard Avle on Citi TV’s Point of View, on the occasion of Workers’ Day, on Wednesday, May 1, Mr. Carbonu pointed out that the salaries of teachers do not align with the high cost of living in the country.

He mentioned instances where some teachers find it challenging to provide for their families due to their poor salaries.

“The current state of the Ghanaian teacher is one of disenchantment, despondency and disappointment. We work for several reasons, we work to enhance our society, keep the body active, and also for income. But when you work for income and at the end of the day, the income doesn’t reflect the work that you do and doesn’t result in enhancement of your wherewithal, you gradually end up in a state of despondency.

He emphasized, “And that is what the situation is… From January to now, the true value of my income dwindled, because there’s a direct correlation between the value of money in this country and foreign currency. If you are working and you cannot take good care of your family, yourself, then you become just a disappointment and despondent. And that is the situation we find ourselves in.”

He cited utilities taxes which negatively affect their income.

“We got a 30% salary increase, immediately, there was a 29.6% slap on the electricity bill, again there was 17% of water and all other amenities went up. You realise that you return to negative, sometimes, you return to square one,” he stated.

Mr Carbonu expressed worry about the government’s failure to pay their pension contributions regularly.

“I’m in a state of worry about my future, my pension, our tier-2 that we fought all over the years is also facing serious problems. Government has failed to transmit regularly and timeously the deductions that are made from workers’ salaries and the percentage of contributions government is supposed to add to the various funds.”