The President of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, Reverend Isaac Owusu has indicated that the reason for most professionals leaving their jobs in Ghana and traveling overseas in search of greener pastures is due to poor condition of service in the country.
In a media engagement on Wednesday night, October 11 2023, Mr. Owusu stated that both successive governments have admitted that teachers in Ghana are poorly paid but yet have done little to address it.
According to him a degree teacher is averagely paid GHS 1,800 a month without any better conditions of service to support the teacher. He also refuted the claims by successive governments that teachers are many in the country describing it as ‘laughable description’.
“And you see if someone is employed to serve the country and work for close to thirty years and the person is given GHS10, 000 as pension gratuity, certainly if a colleague hears that if you are able to go to Canada or you go to UK or US or South Africa and you can make it there, certainly the teacher will leave”.
Reverend Isaac Owusu
Mr. Isaac Owusu further bemoaned the poor state of working conditions of teachers, particularly in rural parts of the country as a key disincentive to teachers in the country contributing to their mass exit.
“You see those working in the basic school, if you look at the working environment it is very bad. Those working in the island, last year we lost a young teacher in Krachi West. He went for his salary and on his way back, the boat that they were using capzided and we lost this teacher painfully. So some of these factors are the reasons some of the teachers are leaving day-in and day-out”
Reverend Isaac Owusu
Nurses And Midwives Bemoans Of Poor Salary
On the other hand, the President of the Ghana Registered Nursing and Midwifery Association, Perpetual Ofori Ampofo also lamented over the poor salary, poor condition of services and poor working environment of nurses and midwives in the country as the key factors leading to their mass exit.
According to her, the increasing rate at which many professionals in the country are leaving the country should be considered as a national crisis. She therefore admonished government to address such a national issue and find lasting solution to it.
“We have been talking about these issues over and over again but the more we talk about it the more it brings credence to the fact that this is a national issue that we need to discuss thoroughly and find solution to it. When it comes to nurses and midwives the reason why they would want to leave is that salaries are poor, conditions of service are not the best and then when you come to working environment the conditions are very bad.
“When it comes to nurses and midwives, the working conditions are worst; some work in very deprived areas, typical rural areas and without their presence, the communities could not have access to any kind of health, but yet the conditions under which they work are poor, there are limited opportunities for career development and for academic progression, low levels of resources in terms of equipment they use to work and medication in terms of our practice are mostly not sufficient”.
Perpetual Ofori Ampofo
The Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association President also expressed deepest concern about many of their colleagues who have not been posted after school.
She noted that the nurses and midwives ratio to the population in the country is below the global standard, stressing that the situation undermines quality healthcare provision in the country.
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