One of the recently commissioned “4 Teacher” Policies by the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) for Sierra Leone is a Teacher Employer Relations (TER) policy, which describes teachers as key operatives in education institutions. According to the TER, the various institutions of learning bring together learners, teachers, managers and a host of ancillary staff in settings designed for the achievement of prescribed learning set out in the National Curriculum. In Sierra Leone, TSC chairperson Staneala Beckley said the Sierra Leone Teachers Union (SLTU) is the main agency that negotiates on behalf of teachers and their working terms and conditions, adding there are agencies through which teachers reinforce their group identity and safeguard their professional assets, including the Sierra Leone Association of Retired Teachers (SLART) and various subject associations like the Sierra Leone Association for the Teaching of English (SLATE).
She said the right of teachers to belong to or associate with these agencies is an important part of their relationship with employers. Beckley said teachers are also obliged to provide environments that are safe for learners/teachers and conducive for learning. Meanwhile, the main categories of education institutions affected by this policy include Early Childhood Care and Development Centres – nurseries and ECD centres – and the main Basic Education Institutions – primary and junior secondary schools, senior secondary schools (SSS), including Technical/Vocational Education and Training Institutions (TVETs).
TSC Public Relations manager Jamie Sankoh furthered that the TER policy sees teachers as key operatives as they facilitate learning and contribute to the wellbeing of pupils and students in their charge and care, adding teachers contribute to the overall functioning of the educational institution as a learning centre. “This role is a complex one that entails a wide range of duties, obligations and responsibilities. In parallel with these duties, obligations and responsibilities, teachers also have rights, entitlements and privileges which should be exercised, protected, and acknowledged in the course of their work in the school system,” she said, adding that teachers also deserve a fair process of recruitment and deployment, transparent criteria for promotions and career advancement, respect and trust from pupils and students, parents and communities, working conditions that cater for teachers’ wellbeing, recourse to appeal processes over unfair treatment, governance rules and regulations that are fair, transparent and applied equitably in practice.
Dr. Cream Wright, one of the lead consultants on the policies, said in the course of teachers’ work and throughout their careers, they must be diligent in their duties, obligations and responsibilities, and be consistently mindful of their professional rights, entitlements, and privileges. Teachers are key operatives in the education system, but they are employed by those who own and manage educational institutions as they play their part in setting out the governance rules and regulations for education institutions, including their terms and conditions of service.
In Sierra Leone, the main bodies that own and manage education institutions are central and local governments including religious missions and private sector ownership. However, all matters concerning teachers’ wellbeing is under the purview of TSC, which is fully mandated by the TSC Act of 2011 to cultivate and regulate a national teaching service by dealing with governance rules and regulations and terms and conditions of service for all teachers across the country.
By Ade Campbell