60% of Teachers in Sierra Leone Receive NLe1, 500 Monthly Salary – Teachers Union Raises Alarm
Deborah Sorie The Sierra Leone Teachers’ Union (SLTU) has renewed calls for improved pay and working conditions for teachers, warning that salary disparities across the education sector are undermining morale and could affect the quality and sustainability of teaching in the country.
SLTU President Ibrahim Bankapoma Kargbo raised the concerns during a World Teachers’ Day interview with Engage Salone, saying teachers with different academic qualifications can receive the same salary despite differences in their training and responsibilities.
Kargbo, who is also a primary school head teacher, described the situation as a “serious injustice” in the education sector.
According to the SLTU president, about 60 percent of teachers receive a net monthly salary of NLe1,500, with the majority in Grades 1 to 6. He said teachers across different grades also receive less than public servants with comparable academic qualifications elsewhere in government.
He argued that the disparity is particularly concerning for teachers who have progressed through higher levels of professional and academic training. “We all [have] HTC, Bachelor’s, Master’s. You [have] the primary head of school [receiving] the same salary,” Kargbo said, describing the situation as unfair to teachers.
Kargbo also highlighted the decline in the purchasing power of teachers’ salaries over time.
He said that in 2017, his take-home salary as a head teacher was about NLe1,500, which he said was equivalent to approximately US$250 at the time. He said his current take-home pay is about NLe2,500, but is worth only around US$105, based on the current exchange rate cited in the report.
The union president acknowledged that government has increased teachers’ nominal salaries by 75 percent since 2018, but argued that the increases have not translated into a corresponding improvement in teachers’ living standards.
He said the issue forms part of the concerns being raised by the union in ongoing negotiations with the government over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Kargbo said the previous agreement had expired after three years and that teachers had secured a 45 percent salary increase over that period, implemented at 15 percent per year. He said the union was now expecting further improvements.
Teachers and school authorities have also raised issues over inadequate school subsidies, delays in payments and shortages of auxiliary staff. According to the published Engage Salone report, primary schools receive NLe10 per child, junior secondary schools NLe40 and senior secondary schools NLe60 in subsidies, amounts which the teachers’ union says have remained unchanged despite rising costs.
Kargbo said delays in subsidy payments had also left some auxiliary workers without salaries for months. He told Engage Salone that when the new school year began in September, schools had reportedly gone five months without receiving subsidies. The situation, he said, has forced some teachers to engage in petty trading or organise unofficial extra classes to supplement their incomes.
The Teaching Service Commission (TSC), while acknowledging the concerns, said it was working to help address the issues through its role in negotiations between teachers and government.
Jammie Victory Sankoh, Public Relations Manager at the TSC, said the Commission recognises the concerns raised by teachers and described them as legitimate.
“That is a legitimate concern,” Sankoh said, adding that the TSC was mediating negotiations between teachers and the government. She clarified that the TSC is not directly responsible for payment of school subsidies but said the Commission has been engaging with relevant government ministries to ensure that the funds are released on time.
Sankoh also pointed to the 2023 Wages and Compensation Commission Act as a potential mechanism for addressing salary disparities within the public service.
The concerns come as Sierra Leone marks World Teachers’ Day against the backdrop of the government’s Free Quality Education programme, introduced in 2018 as the administration’s flagship initiative.
The programme eliminated fees for primary and secondary education and transition examinations and was accompanied by increased government spending on education. The published report notes that education received 20 percent of the national budget in the first year of the programme, with allocations subsequently fluctuating between 20 and 22 percent.
The expansion of access has also significantly increased enrolment. Available data cited by Engage Salone shows that student enrolment grew from fewer than two million in 2018 to more than three million by 2021.
However, teachers and education stakeholders say maintaining those gains will depend partly on the government’s ability to improve conditions for the people delivering education in classrooms.