Reports have it that the Gambia Teachers’ Union has given an ultimatum to the Government of The Gambia to fulfil their promise of meeting some demands of teachers in the country or they will go on a sit-down strike from 7 September.
About eight months ago, a section of the teachers in the country embarked on a sit-down strike and refused to go into their classrooms to teach the children. Negotiations were held with some government officials in which promises were made to look into the demands and come up with possible solutions.
Well, according to the teachers, since then no action has been taken by the Government of The Gambia despite several attempts by the teachers to get a reaction from the government.
It is quite clear that a sit-down strike by teachers has the potential to drastically affect the performance of our children in both internal and external examinations. It is therefore important that government takes this threat seriously and find ways and means by which they can meet the demands of the teachers.
In light of the poor academic performance of students in this year’s WASSCE, it will be foolhardy not to take the teachers seriously and solve their problems.
Education is the key to development and without it, no form of development can take place. Government has a duty therefore to ensure that whatever affects the quality of education is addressed, immediately.
