One of the Gambia’s oldest and best performing senior secondary schools has found itself mired in financial crisis to the extent of not paying staff salaries. The school’s teachers are planning a sit-down strike if their demands have not been met.
For so many years, St. Augustine’s Senior Secondary School has earned the respect for producing best students in both academic and sports.
However, the school’s good name is fading away mainly because of its poor administrative structure. The school’s inability to pay staff salaries for the past four months has already taken a great toll on both the students’ academic performance. It has also seriously dwindled morale among teachers.
Kairo News is informed that the school’s aggrieved teachers have now taken the matter to their students’ parents. “A meeting was scheduled for Thursday, February 27 but there was a last minute cancellation. The new date of the meeting is March 7th,” Kairo News sources confirmed, explaining that the teachers want parents to be informed about their planned actions.
Aggrieved teachers are planning to boycott lessons if their salary arrears have not been paid, which leaves students in a state of uncertainty. The teachers plan to peg the number of teaching hours to five instead of eight if their demands have not been immediately met.
St. Augustine’s is owned by the Catholic Mission in the Gambia.
Ends