28/09/2025
If You Won’t Empathize With Us, Don't Insult Our Intelligence.
When teachers complain about their salaries, people often bring in theories like “you lack financial literacy” or “you lack financial discipline.”
But we cannot all be financially ignorant at the same time. There’s something fundamentally inadequate about the salaries, which causes the majority of us to experience the same struggles.
I mentioned earlier on this platform that I spent some time reviewing the payslips of some university lecturers and compared them with those of pre-tertiary teachers. I checked for loans.
I discovered that out of about 16 university lecturers’ payslips, only one had a loan. The rest had mutual fund investments and insurance policies. Now, guess what the situation is for pre-tertiary teachers: out of every 5 payslips, at least 2 or 3 have loans on them.
Do I believe this is about financial discipline? No. It’s about how much you earn relative to the cost of living. If your income is less than your basic cost of living, you will inevitably borrow just to cover essentials such as rent. No amount of financial discipline will save you.
I don't know if you got my point yet but let me explain further with actual salary figures. Maybe you don’t know this:
A lecturer with a PhD earns about 25k gross salary per month.
An assistant lecturer earns about 19k gross per month.
A regional director, regardless of qualifications, on the rank of Director I, earns about 15k gross per month.
A district director earns around 14k gross per month. These are the closest ranks to the Director-General.
SHS heads and basic school heads on Deputy Director rank earn around 9k gross. In some cases a basic school heads own is 300 to 500gh lower.
Then comes Circuit Supervisors. Being a SISO is one of the most useless positions you can aspire to in GES. It comes with nothing—not even a responsibility allowance. In fact, if you were already on responsibility allowance as head before the appointment, it will be taken off. Just a big name kwa (without finncial benefits).
When you take all these top positions out, what’s left is the lower quartile of the senior rank where you find the majority of teachers: ADII, ADI, and PS. Their gross ranges from about 4.3k to 7k. Then there are the remaining ones at the bottom of the ladder.
Remember, I’m talking about gross salary. By the time tax, SSNIT, and union dues are deducted, what’s left (the 3k, 4k) as take-home pay cannot sustain you—especially if you have a family. If you’re single, you might manage an average life, but most teachers cannot escape family responsibilities. Everone is busy getting married and having children and carrying other family members along.
So no—it’s not about financial literacy or discipline. We can’t all be “stupid” at the same time. Imagine having to run a family of four on a 3k, 100gh/day budget. Food alone will finish you. You have no option than to borrow to pay rent or buy books for your children? That's the reality.
Even though our lecturers may still call for more based on the demands of their work, at least, their nose is above the water while we are drowning.
So here's the thing, If you won’t empathize with us, at least don’t insult us. In every economy, there’s a minimum salary that can keep people afloat and the average teachers single spine salary is not there.
Jerry Akporhor
Founder and Lead Educator, Informed Teachers Network
