The Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) through the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) will be submitting the list of 680 teachers including 203 Heads of Schools from different public schools for retirement in 2023.
According to the Secretary of TSC, Mr. Sorie I. Turay, their retirement takes effect on August 31, 2023 and it is anticipated that they would be paid their gratuities together with their last salary on August 31, 2023.
He said the TSC had been granted approval by Cabinet for teachers to retire once a year on August 31st, to avoid a disruption to the school calendar.
“The retirement letters of these teachers were dispatched to their schools early this year, and they are expected to complete the retirement forms and submit them to the TSC offices in their respective districts. The forms will then be submitted to the Ministry of Finance for processing. Copies of the retirement letters can be collected from the TSC offices in the event that they have not received copies,” he said.
He said that the procedure was in line with the mandatory retirement age in the teaching service which is 60 years. He however, stated that there is concession for teachers that are teaching Science, Technology, Agriculture, Engineering and Mathematics (STAEM) to extend their service age to 65 years if they so wish.
Mr Turay said TSC was faced with the challenge of some teachers not wanting to retire at age 60, and some of them purporting to be STEAM teachers, but added that that challenge has been sorted out.
He added that the Government of Sierra Leone is processing the recruitment of 2,800 teachers.
Teachers make up 40 percent of the entire government payroll and since 2018, over 5,424 teachers have been placed on their right pay grade. Over 300 school heads have been regularized. In 2021 alone, the government recruited 1,000 teachers. There are about 36,509 teachers on the government payroll.
In the build up to the end of April 2020, there were concerns that the government might not be able to fulfil its commitment due to the emergence of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that forced many nations to reduce budgetary support on education. But the government kept the promise and paid the 30% increase for up to 34,350 teachers across the country. The increment at the time meant that the payroll for teachers increased by Le 13.45 billion, from Le 42.95 billion in March 2020 to Le 56.40 billion in April 2020.
Recently, there was another 45% increase in the salary of teachers to be implemented in three years.
Over 500 Principals and Vice Principals have been appointed between August 2020 and November 2021.
By Augustine Sankoh,
Strategic Communications Analyst MBSSE