Salaries and Conditions of Service of Teachers: A Historical Note, by Ransford Gyampo
I have looked through old records and spoken with retired educators, lawmakers, and seasoned academics who lived through Kwame Nkrumah's reign, such Prof. Ivan Addae Mensah, a former politician and the former vice chancellor of the University of Ghana.
The information below, learned from my interactions with them, is worth expressing to help guide our discussion of the current working conditions for Ghanaian teachers.
Up to the end of the First Republic, which ended in 1951, university teachers were regarded as essential to developing a critical mass of nation builders for Ghana.
As a result, they were among the best paid public employees in Ghana. In Ghana, academics earned pay that was comparable to that of their counterparts in the UK.
A Lecturer received an annual salary of £1,040, while a Member of Parliament received £960.
Senior Lecturers made about £1,350 annually, while Deputy Ministers made about £1,200. Professorial level members received higher pay than Ministerial rank members; the former received between £1,600 and 2,100 while the latter received about £1,450.
Because secondary school principals and teachers were compensated so well, even government appointees enjoyed their jobs. For instance, Chapman Nyaho, a cabinet secretary and the ambassador of Ghana to the US, was open to taking the position of headmaster at Achimota School. Isaac Chinebuah, a senior lecturer in the University of Ghana's department of linguistics, also agreed to teach and later take over as head of the Achimota School.
Additionally, Mr. EA Haizel, the former head of the African Studies Department at the University of Ghana and father of the current Registrar, accepted a position leading the Achimota School.
The Nkrumah Government used public funds sparingly and directed funds to professions like teaching that actually needed the drive to increase the nation's labour force.
Nkrumah made sure that only government employees—civil workers, physicians, and judges—were given government bungalows in order to reduce costs and guarantee there were enough resources to pay teachers fairly.
All elected officials and ministers owned their own vehicles and paid for their own housing. Appointees and politicians who could afford them bought several of Nkrumah's later estates for themselves without the government providing loan guarantees.
Nkrumah's decision to deny government bungalows to politicians, especially Parliamentarians, was based on his conviction that "the homes of the MPs are in their constituencies," in addition to saving enough money to be able to provide adequate compensation.
They need merely temporary accommodations because they are strangers in Accra. In order to ensure effective representation, this notion led MPs to routinely visit their constituents' houses. After Mr. M.R. Abavana, a Navrongo MP and Minister of Education under Nkrumah who resided in his own home, the Abavana junction in Accra New Town was named.
Up until he relocated to the Castle in roughly 1959, Nkrumah himself stayed in a rental flat near Accra New Town.
Following Nkrumah's overthrow, succeeding governments—military and civilian—resorted to raising the salaries and improving the working conditions of politicians without doing the same for teachers.
Particularly, the various military regimes enlisted young, unemployed civilians who had just graduated from college to work in their administration. Due to their youth and lack of resources, these young appointees received state bungalows, cars, and several other benefits and conditions of service.
This practise has been maintained by succeeding civilian governments at the expense of the teacher.
It must be emphasised once more that the goal of paying teachers more than politicians was to ensure high-quality development of human capital and nation-builders. This goal was shared by both the colonial government and Nkrumah.
People who lived at the time can still recall how teachers fared at the time in terms of their social status. Because they had all the incentives and recognition necessary to lead respectable lives, their production was also of the highest calibre.
Sadly, since Nkrumah was overthrown, succeeding administrations have had little idea of the importance of a motivated teacher to the development of a nation. Unfortunately, President Akufo-Addo recently said that no one enters the teaching profession with the expectation of becoming rich.
This is a serious distortion of historical reality. Because of their high salaries, teachers could afford to build their own mansions and buy their own fancy cars. Who is to blame if today's teachers cannot expect to become millionaires? Not the politician, is it?
After reading this article, politicians who value nation building above mere rhetoric and those who are interested in leaving a positive legacy after their term as president expires must immediately go back to learn from how the colonial masters and Nkrumah valued teachers over politicians.
They must also adopt the stance of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who believes that politicians cannot be paid more than the people who taught them.