Beverly Bizeki
A move to introduce a teacher incentive at the Catholic-run St Anthony High in Zaka by the School Development Committee (SDC) has sparked mixed feelings and divided parents with some in support of the idea while others feel they are forced to do government’s duty.
The teacher incentive was initially pegged at US$30 for form 1-4s and US$40 for A levels at an Annual General Meeting held recently but was later reviewed down to US$20 and US$30 respectively after heated debates on various WhatsApp platforms.
SDC Chairperson Joseph Gumbire confirmed the development and said though there were some disagreements over the issue, the initiative was completely parent driven and not influenced by the school administration saying it was meant to motivate teachers to improve their work.
“The teacher’s incentive is a parent driven initiative with nothing to do with the administration. The idea came after some parents approached teachers to help their children by way of extra lessons but that was hard for some parents to pay monthly fees for extra lessons. So what it meant was that those who fail to pay for extra lessons will disadvantage their children. This would also lead to the discrimination of some learners.
“It is against this background that parents came together with the idea of paying teachers an incentive as a token of appreciation and to motivate them in doing their work. There will be no extra hours added, teachers will just do their work and help every learner equally as need be,” said Gumbire.
Responding to why there were mixed feelings over the incentive issue, Gumbire said some parents complained over the amounts set at first and required a downward review while others were taking sides with the few members of staff who were benefitting from the extra lessons system.
“Only a few individuals were against the idea of incentives and at first parents wanted a downward review of the fees required which is why we changed it. We have a few who were against the idea and could have been benefiting from the old system,” said Gumbire.
However, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) Director of Communications Taungana Ndoro said they were against such arrangements saying it was not the duty of a parent to pay teachers but to support their children.
“We continue to warn parents against that. Their role is not to pay teachers but support their children, if they do so, they are creating an entitlement which when they fail to pay, the teachers will not deliver on their duties effectively,” said Ndoro.
Parents who were against the idea argued that the incentive does not guarantee good pass rates or that teachers would put in the extra effort while others said incentivizing teachers would mean they are taking government’s responsibility.
“This means that we are taking the employer’s responsibility of paying teachers, that being done how will you verify that the teachers are going an extra mile in teaching the learners, is there going to be an assessment and by who?
“I am sure we are all aware of the result-based reward that is being employed at our school by the shrewd leadership. And it has been so effective. Now we have started mending something that is not broken and setting a calamitous precedent that will impact on generations to come,” said one parent.
Another parent said they were not supposed to do a one size fits all and said extra lesson were better since they were optional.
“Who said teachers are not happy? Is it not expedient that we take a case by case approach and not one size fit all? What if I take that US$ 20 and take my child for extra lessons so that they can catch up where they are left behind. Is it not better than letting the school fees for Musiso be expensive because children are behind (on their lessons) Do we have evidence that if we pay teachers, the learners will improve,” said one grieved parent
Another parent who was for the incentive idea said it was noble as extra lessons meant the teachers were supposed to create extra time after learning hours but incentives will simply motivate them to do their work on the stipulated time.
“I think what needs to be done here are not extra lessons unless if we are saying the time stipulated is inadequate of which I do not think as parents here we can come up with a solution. Inadequate time for the syllabus can only be resolved through curriculum review. Incentivizing our teachers is good to motivate them so that they meet their objectives by attending lessons as expected, according to their timetables. I support the decision of giving them something as parents to motivate them,” said the parent.
Government however has been on record for banning extra lessons in schools but some teachers and schools have ignored the call.
