This situation is an eye opener. Schools cannot be blamed for their inability to pay their staffs’ salaries. The pandemic has impacted patronage. Inflow of cash has terribly shrunk. Buildings are closed down.
Nowadays, it is obvious that it is no longer an exultant moment for teachers in the private sector. But many of them courteously feel humbled and resist the temptation to enact a lachrymose drama. It is unlikely that exposing their internal suffering will help the situation. No one seems isolated from the frightening economic realities engendered by the pandemic.
Those around these victims of societal decadence, including their relatives, do not see these teachers as people who need urgent support. Probably they have a faint comprehension of the pathetic life the teachers live. If the situation is this bad in Lagos State, guess what would happen in states like Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and others where means of survival depend largely on the stipends they receive as salary.
Before the outbreak of this global pandemic, most private school teachers battled economic straits; they managed to live a proper life. Their salaries could not cater to their needs. But at least they managed to survive. Since the beginning of the lockdown, only the few ‘big’ schools continue to pay their staff. These are schools that successfully run paid online classes.
For instance, out of about 150, 000 private schools in Lagos, only 1,500 schools run online classes. Out of the 1,500 schools, 150 schools run these classes successfully.
Some schools are structurally big, but Covid-19 has declined their sizes, plunged them into economic hazard.
This situation is an eye opener. Schools cannot be blamed for their inability to pay their staffs’ salaries. The pandemic has impacted patronage. Inflow of cash has terribly shrunk. Buildings are closed down.
A close friend of mine whose salary is 20k told me the last time he received salary was February. His situation promptly prompted me to glorify God because it is worse — his wife, also a private school teacher — has stopped receiving salary since February. As if destined to live in poverty, both are struggling to fight back the ravaging hungervirus. Is the Covid-19 not an eye opener? undoubtedly, it is!
The above scenario represents a real pandemic threatening the so-called mind-builders working tirelessly to make ends meet.
Way Forward—Dignity of Labour
The moment school closure was announced, my friend, a private school teacher, visited a motor park in the neighborhood to solicit assistance. His was so early because he couldn’t cope, considering the enormity of the familial responsibilities he shoulders. He was severely indebted to some financial institutions. At the park, luck smiled on him. He was engaged as one of the tricyclists, at least with a reasonable daily income. What we should detest is theft and illegitimate businesses.
A female teacher is moving from house to house to provide laundry services in order to feed her family.
Covid-19 has opened our eyes to the reality. All we need is side hustle. One problem with many of the private school teachers is that they are too contended with their monthly stipends. They devote most of their time to their work with little or no time for the side hustle.
It is time to have a rethink on what else private school teachers and victims like them in the society can do to cushion the economic effects of the lockdown.
