Valuing teachers...
VSO volunteers have been doing some research among school teachers in Nigeria to try to understand the root causes of teacher demotivation. The resulting “Valuing teachers” report makes for difficult reading.
A key issue is the fact that teachers in Nigeria do not earn a “living wage”, that is they often cannot afford to live on their teaching income alone. Unqualified teachers (of whom there are many) earn N8000 a month (€5) and qualified teachers earn N15000 a month (€10) after about 10 years service.
So, many teachers supplement their income in other ways, for instance it is common for families to farm small plots of land. They do so by rising early in the morning and working from sun up. This can contribute to the high levels of absenteeism among school teachers, and stretches a struggling education system even further. In the words of the teachers themselves:
“Some days I have to decide whether to spend my money on transport to school or food for myself and my family”.
“I am already tired when I come to school. And then I have to teach a group of 80 or more hungry and unruly children. Sometimes, when one of my colleagues does not come to school, it is double that number. And I simply don’t have the energy to keep them under control by any means other than the cane…”
A key issue is the fact that teachers in Nigeria do not earn a “living wage”, that is they often cannot afford to live on their teaching income alone. Unqualified teachers (of whom there are many) earn N8000 a month (€5) and qualified teachers earn N15000 a month (€10) after about 10 years service.
So, many teachers supplement their income in other ways, for instance it is common for families to farm small plots of land. They do so by rising early in the morning and working from sun up. This can contribute to the high levels of absenteeism among school teachers, and stretches a struggling education system even further. In the words of the teachers themselves:
“Some days I have to decide whether to spend my money on transport to school or food for myself and my family”.
“I am already tired when I come to school. And then I have to teach a group of 80 or more hungry and unruly children. Sometimes, when one of my colleagues does not come to school, it is double that number. And I simply don’t have the energy to keep them under control by any means other than the cane…”
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