COVID-19 And Its Effect on Female Teachers

 COVID-19 And Its Effect on Female Teachers

When, in the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 hit the city of Wuhan, people in the rest of the world could not suspect that the virus would travel all over the world and change the way we live, interact, work, teach and learn. The implications and effects of the pandemic on education are yet to be known, but they will surely be more challenging for teachers in primary and secondary schools. 

Rosamond Cole is a teacher at the Methodist Boys High School in Freetown. She said the COVID-19 pandemic has affected her socially, economically and emotionally. She said the death of her relatives by COVID-19 made her got some fear about the pandemic.

On the side of the students, she said coronavirus made it impossible for students to attend school which has affected their performance, adding that some of the students have deteriorated in knowledge and are finding it difficult to fit in. “Although my salary was running, I missed my students; so I am happy they have resumed”.

Christiana Cole shares similar experience with Rosamond. Christiana teaches at the St. Mulumba Catholic School in Hastings, Western Rural Area of Sierra Leone. The virus has taken a huge toll on her and her family especially when schools were closed down for months.

“I wasn't receiving anything because I had no pin code; I was only given stipend. So since schools were closed down, I stopped receiving the monthly stipend”, Madam Cole said.

She added that although the stripe given to her wasn't much, but was better, as she was getting it at the end of the month. She was also getting money from the extra classes she used to conduct for pupils.

“Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Sierra Leone, I closed the extra classes for my safety and the safety of the children. I won’t lie it was tough for me. I don’t like to depend on anyone for anything, so I had to start doing petty trading just to keep myself busy and healthy”, Christian explained.

She also said that the students were also affected as most parents do not monitor their children. She furthered that around her area, she used to encourage parents to persuade or allow their children listen to the radio teaching program and also motivate them to study hard.

Christiana said although she was happy that schools were reopened, she was disappointed at the performance of children in her class, saying most of them could not even recall what they have been taught. She said some parents were not helping their children. “The parents should help the teachers to making sure the children get the required education”, citing the responsibilities of the parents.

An official from the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education told this writer that teachers in public schools were receiving normal salaries despite the closure of schools. He further informed that the 30% salary increase was also effected during this COVID-19 period.

This story was put together with support from journalists for human rights (JHR) and the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) human rights fellowship.