Lamin Fatajo was speaking specifically for his region in which he highlighted some of the problems private schools and their teachers are confronting. These problems centered on unpaid monthly salaries; arrears for the teachers and the capacity of the schools in terms of income for their schools.
“It is a delicate situation for everybody not only for Basic Education Ministry,” he pointed.
As a region Mr. Fatajo explained, they are engaging the private school authorities and their proprietors to see how best they can settle the payment of their teacher’s salary arrears. He disclosed that the discussion includes Gambia Teachers’ Union (GTU) officials as they are looking into the whole issues holistically.
“The current situation in our schools is uncertain for everybody and also schools have different capacity to pay their teachers. He added others don’t have that capacity. “There are some schools who paid their teachers to date while others are yet to pay their teachers because they lack the capacity to generate funds as a result of covid-19,” Mr. Fatajo revealed.
According to him, there are 113 private Upper Basic Schools (UBS) and 73 private Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) in Region 2. Despite the fact that some schools owe their teaching staff some monthly salaries, good number of these staff is willing to offer help their schools in this trying time of covid-19 pandemic.
Director Fatajo assured of his office’s readiness to continue engaging the private school authorities and their proprietors for the payment of their staff monthly salaries arrears immediately after grade 12 examinations.
“My office aim is to make sure that the relationship between the teachers and their school authorities remain cordial even after everything goes well.”
“My office in consultation with the schools and parents/guardians made transferred of some students from their current school to another school because we found out that the situation in which some of those students are in; their current schools cannot help them in sitting to their grade 12 exams.
By Lamin B. Darboe
Information Officer, MoBSE
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