Gambia Teachers' Union-Official

Monday Reflections!

As the globe tiptoes towards the attainment of the Global Goals, especially SDG 4-Quality Education and the Continental Education Strategy for Africa 2016-2025, we reflect on the words of the Regional Director (Africa), Education International, Dennis Sinyolo, that "Teachers' Working Conditions are Children's Learning Conditions"

This reflection is important for governments and stakeholders as we strive to attain the set objectives in SDG4 and CESA 2016-2025.

The GTU Regional Executive Committee, Region 6, on Saturday 29th October, 2022 organized a Cluster Bantaba in the Sandu Cluster.

The Bantanba held at the Diabugu Lower Basic School was meant to discuss key issues pertaining to the teacher in his line of duty and membership of the Gambia Teachers' Union-Official .

During the day long event, officials from the GTU and the Regional Education Directorate 6 made presentations on different thematic areas.

The Gambia Teachers Union, through the Young Ambassadors of Steve Sinnot Foundation recently gathered education stakeholders to share advocacy messages with them.

The advocacy messages are meant to improve the standards of teaching and learning in the country.

Sharing their messages with stakeholders, the young ambassadors, who are also students called on the stakeholders to consider improving the welfare of teachers, provide adequate transportation for students, increase female teacher posting in rural Gambia, enhance the implementation of policies to cater for the welfare of Persons with disabilities amongst others.

In response, the stakeholders present including Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Louis Moses Mendy and National Assembly Members, renewed commitment to advance the course of ensuring the attainment of the points highlighted by the young ambassadors.

World Teachers Day 2022
Statement by President, The Gambia Teachers Union - Mr Ismaila S Ceesay

I would like to return gratitude to the Almighty God for witnessing yet another commemoration. Similarly, I seek His Mercy and Forgiveness on the departed souls of our fallen comrades who could not be with us likewise those in their sick beds, speedy recovery.

On the occasion of this great day, I salute you and thank you for taking your time to be here to celebrate our gallant teachers. It is apparent that this year’s theme of World Teachers Day 2022 is ‘The Transformation of Education Begins with Teachers’. This is obvious as the working condition of teachers determines the learning outcome of students.

Fellow comrades, let us join the rest of the world in paying tribute to the millions of teachers around the globe and to our own teachers for the wonderful work they are doing and the women and men who inspire, challenge and nurture our youth on a daily basis.

We have seen the recently published WASSCE and GABECE results; the marked improvement in the students’ results is a clear testimony of our hard work. Certainly, no education system is better than its teachers and there will be no meaningful development without serious investment in education.

Teachers are the custodians of learning, they impart knowledge, values and skills, at their best, they tap into the hopes and talents of young people and help them to grow into productive citizens, yet too often teachers are not given the recognition and support they deserve. In as much as we appreciate the progressive increment of the Nation Education Budget, this is relatively not good enough as teachers continue to dwell in ‘stores’ due to lack of proper accommodation facilities.
There is need for serious reconsideration by Government to review the development budget of the Ministry of Education to curb the unending occupation health and safety challenges that teachers continue to face. As a community, we are here to remind ourselves of the heavy responsibilities bestowed on us as well as the challenges we face as a Sector.

As the COVID-19 crisis revealed, teachers are the engines at the heart of our education systems, without whom it is impossible to provide an inclusive and equitable quality education to every learner. Like I mentioned above, teachers have performed and proven beyond all odds that we are resilient and in charge of the economy.

The narrative in the Executive is controlled by teachers! They form the single highest percentage of the Executive likewise at the Legislature. However, even though this is true and worthy of celebrating the fact remains that it does not truly reflect the working and living conditions of teachers and Education Sector Personnel, of course including Education Administrators.

The COVID-19 pandemic showed us that teachers are ready to transform education; to transform learners by equipping them with foundational skills, stimulating their curiosity and ability and to continue learning throughout their lives, and instilling a sense of belonging and responsibility for one another and for the planet.

However, education systems do not seem to be equally ready to support teachers to fully deploy their talents, leverage their knowledge and make use of their pedagogical judgement to transform education. It is baffling that these fundamental truths are hardly observed when determining remuneration and other fringe benefits for teachers. We are training other professional yet paid less than them. It is disheartening to note that some will even argue that we are not entitled to (other) allowances like our counterparts in similar sectors.

Fellow comrade, education has always played an important role in advancing the transformation of human societies; therefore, to shape sustainable futures education must be transformed and teachers are not only crucial but necessary factors to be considered.

Today we are here to advocate for bold strategic actions by policy makers, teachers themselves, the Union especially the NEC and civil society in general. As the transforming education summit has affirmed, teachers and education personnel should be supported and empowered to innovate and transform teaching within, coupled with the political commitment from the President of the Republic, I call on all and sundry to renew our commitment and resolve and do the needful.

In 2021, Education International the parent body of all teacher unions reported that the majority of teacher unions raised concerns that pay is too low, working conditions are deteriorating, and infrastructure to support teaching and learning is not a priority for government investment.

The Government of the Day should have an empowered education work force that is professionalized, trained, motivated, and supported. This begs me to ask the question, what situations would look like if we do not have the GTUCCU. We have and continue doing our best by coming together to create all necessary organs: the GTUCCU, the GTU Ladies Society and the GTU Young Teachers Platform. I thank the membership and the leadership for their visionary leadership in shaping the future of the Organisation.
Comrades, transforming education entails an adequate number of qualified teachers with access to quality initial education and continuous professional development throughout their careers, improved status and working conditions.

Without enough teachers, classrooms are overcrowded, teachers are overworked and demotivated, and the quality of teaching is inadequate to enable all learners, especially the most vulnerable, to achieve desired learning outcomes.

The World Teachers Day 2022 commemorations will focus on the support the teachers and the GTU in particular need to fully contribute to educational transformations and will advocate for bolder actions by all stakeholders; national and international policy makers, civil society at large, private sector actors, as well as learners of all ages and teachers themselves.

Going forward, qualified, trained and empowered teachers and school leaders have the potential to become the essential building blocks of more resilient education systems and this must be noted and nurtured.

I call on Government to keep up the drive to address the many challenges facing our teachers, which we believe should be carefully looked into in order to resolve them.

WTD Pictorial Highlights from Regions 3-6

The Gambia Teachers' Union today, 5th October, 2022, observes World Teachers' Day.

The day set aside by UNESCO in 1994 seeks to celebrate the efforts of teachers as well as bring to light their plight.

The theme for this year is:Transformation of Education Begins with Teachers.

Celebration of the day in The Gambia takes the form decentralised events.

In her statement to mark the day, Marie Antoinette Corr, General Secretary GTU celebrates the great strides of Gambia teachers. She calls for more investment in education including remunerating teachers accordingly.

"We are not begging, we are asking for what rightfully belongs to us."

The President, Ismailia Ceesay, equally calls on government to prioritize teachers welfare. He says indeed the transformation of education begins with teachers.

Speaking at the Region 1 event, Talib Ahmed Bensouda, Mayor Kanifing Municipality, recognizes the strides of teachers in shaping the future of nations.

The celebration of the day is mark in all regions of the country.

PUBLIC NOTICE

WORLD TEACHERS’ DAY 5TH OCTOBER 2022

Every year, World Teachers’ Day reminds us of the critical role teachers’ play in achieving inclusive quality education.

The theme for this year’s World Teachers’ Day is: The Transformation of Education Begins with Teachers.

We are the beating heart of education!

The day will celebrate teachers’ instrumental role in transforming education and advocate for bold strategic actions by policy makers, teachers themselves and civil society.

The Gambia Teachers’ Union strives to have an empowered education workforce that is professionalized, trained, motivated and supported.

Teachers are ready to transform education, investment is the only way.

We urge government of the day to join us in this endeavor.

The National Executive Committee of the Gambia Teachers’ Union (GTU) wishes to congratulate the entire teaching fraternity in commemoration of the day/

Happy World Teachers’ Day

Marie Antoinette Corr

General Secretary

Photos from QuantumNet Institute of Technology's post

The Gambia Teachers' Union conducts a two-day Counseling Skills training for Forty teachers.

The training aims at building the capacity of the participants on counselling skills amongst others.

The GTU expects participants to use the knowledge from the training to provide counselling services in schools, to peers, students and communities

The training underway at the YMCA Hall in Kanifing is through support from the Steve Sinnott Foundation.

GTUYTP PRESENTS POSITION PAPER TO GTU-NEC

After a failed attempt to introduce a new pay and grading structure for civil servants by the government, and a subsequent 30% salary increment for all civil servants (which was criticized at many quarters, including within the teacher family), The Gambia Teachers’ Union Young Teachers Platform-GTUYTP an organ of the GTU representing the youth constituent of the Union conducted a meeting to discuss possibilities of creating avenues to advocate for a better pay and living standards for teachers.

At the conclusion of the meeting, a position paper was drawn to be submitted to the National Executive Committee-GTU.

The GTUYTP, on August 24, 2022, presented the position paper to the National Executive Committee-NEC of the GTU.

The position paper is a call for the NEC to institute an advocacy with Government for the payment of allowances and or adjustment on the payable allowances to teachers.

The call for the advocacy with Government is necessitated by the fact that teachers in the country are not sufficiently remunerated compared to the very challenging conditions they perform their roles, which could be a recipe for poor performance.

Teachers in the country perform their roles under very challenging conditions. Many of them especially in rural Gambia, sleep in stores and in least suitable and friendly environments. This narrative has to change.

The Government must therefore recognize the crucial role of teachers in the development of the country. As such, government must take full responsibility to renumerate teachers accordingly.

The GTUYTP in the position paper has indicated to the NEC to pursue with government the payment of the following allowances to teachers, Professional Allowance, Risk Allowance, WAEC Invigilation Allowance, Responsibility Allowance and a review of the Retention and Graduate Teacher Allowances respectively.

Accordingly, the National Executive Committee received the position paper during a NEC meeting held at the GTU Secretariat. A committee has since been established to review the position paper and do the needful.

Additionally, the position paper indicates that the National Executive has until 15th September 2022, to update the submitters of the position paper on the progress of engagement(s) with government.
ENDS!

Information and Communication Office-GTUYTP

The two-day training for Education students of the University of The Gambia on Gambia's Public Service Policy Regulations concludes at the YMCA Hall in Kanifing.

The training organize by the GTU is in reflection of the need to build the capacity of members on thematic areas relevant to their work.

To promote effective service delivery, check conduct of employees, dispensate public service efficiently, the public service sector of the country has guiding policy documents. These documents outline the expected conduct of public/civil servants amongst other regulations and regulatory requirements.

The training for the students/teachers exposes them to the regulations as may be required of them and as may apply to them in their line of duty.

Understanding the significance of capacity building of members towards effective service delivery, the Gambia Teachers' Union, today 25th August 2022, begins a two-day training on Policy Regulations for Education Students of the University of The Gambia.

The training is focus on providing the 'teachers' with the requisite knowledge and information on some of the policy regulations guiding the operation of the public service of The Gambia.

These service regulations include the General Orders, Personnel Procedure Manual, Code of Professional Ethics and Conducts amongst others.

According to statistics sourced from MoBSE's Year Book 2022, The Gambia has about 3185 schools across all levels of basic and secondary education, public and private including Madrassa.

The last set of Summer Professional Development Training for Young Teacher Leaders began yesterday July 28 2022 at the YMCA Hall in Kanifing for 40 young teacher leaders in Region 1.

The participants drawn from different schools in the Education Directorate 1 , will until Saturday 30th July 2022 participate in the training on leadership, communication skills, Gender Based Violence, Climate Change, Occupational Health and Safety, Trade Union Education amongst other relevant modules.

At the end of the training on Saturday, the Gambia Teachers Union through its partnership with the Canadian Teachers Federation , would have built the capacity of more than a hundred young teacher leaders within two weeks in areas relevant to their service as teachers and leaders.

The 2022 Summer Professional Development Training follows a similar Summer Professional Development Training organized for young Head Teachers in Regions 4&5 respectively sometime in 2021.

The Union is aware of the need to organise capacity building training for its members. As such it with the conviction that such training would increase members awareness as well as increase their output and productiveness.

Few days after conducting a three day professional development training for teacher leaders in the Upper River Region, the Gambia Teachers' Union has today, July 26 2022 rolled out another 3day professional development training for 40 young teacher leaders in the West Coast Region.

The training underway at the Regional Education Directorate 2 is supported by the Canadian Teachers Federation -CTF/FCE.

In the next three days participants' capacity will be built on Leadership, Communication Skills, Occupational Health, School Related Gender Based Violence amongst other modules.

There have been global calls for concerted efforts to fight the impact of climate change. According to definitions, climate change is the long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Though the shifts may be natural, it is argued that human induced activities have been the main driver of climate change.

Day 3 of the Summer Professional Development Training for Young Teacher Leaders began with a presentation on Climate Change.

Led by Yankuba Bajo of the Regional Forestry Office-URR, the presentation focused on providing learnings for the young teacher leaders on climate change and its impact. This with the hope that they will use the knowledge to join the crusade against climate change.

The United Nations has outlined that climate change posses many risks to human beings and other forms of life on earth. The effects of climate change according to the UN include, hotter temperatures, increased drought, loss of species, poverty and displacements, amongst others.

DAY 2: SUMMER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP FOR YOUNG TEACHER LEADERS

Day 2 of the ongoing professional development training of young teacher leaders in the in the Upper River Region began with a presentation on Occupational Health and Safety. The presentation led by Kelepha Kandeh of the Regional Health Directorate 6 harped on the significance of OHS including procedures to ensure OHS. Among these procedures he highlighted taking regular breaks at work, using equipment properly, locating emergency exits, reporting safety concerns amongst others.

Kandeh in a brief explanation said, Occupational Health is the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of employees and students.

The second presentation featured Trade Union Education. Presented by Essa Sowe Deputy General Secretary -GTU, the presentation detailed the roles of trade unions to the membership as well as members' duties.