"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." ~Derek Bok
This has been a very challenging week for both the United States, with the bombings in Boston, and Togo, with their strikes and demonstrations gone awry. Monday was a tough day for both countries. Here in Togo, a student protest up in the northern regional capitol of Dapaong turned ugly when a 12-year-old boy was killed by Togolese security forces. The boy, Ephrem Tsikplonou, was shot at a demonstration where students were seeking better working conditions for their teachers. There have also been large protests in southern Togo; thousands of students marched in the streets of Lome to demand better conditions for teachers. Togolese students are fighting for their education.
Teachers have been on strike since last Thursday and the government has shut down all public and private schools in Togo since yesterday until further notice. For years, teachers in Togo have been demanding a salary increase and better work conditions, but these demands have not been answered. "The education system in Togo has suffered from teacher shortages, lower educational quality in rural areas, and high repetition and dropout rates. Most of the schools in Togo have little in the way of equipment, no electricity, and the language spoken in the classroom is the second or even third language for most children. Despite these difficulties, literacy rates are among the highest in Africa."
- The Huffington Post
I teach at a private school in Kpalime, so normally the strikes don't affect us. In my conversations with the teachers at my school it seems that a pattern has emerged in Togo with regard to teachers' strikes: 1) The teachers go on strike demanding a pay increase 2) The government negotiates and promises an increase 3) The teachers go back to work, believing that the government will do what they promised 4) The government ends up not giving the teachers the pay increase that they demanded 5) A few months later, the teachers demand a pay increase, go on strike, and the pattern starts all over again.
This has been going on for years, but it seems like this time the teachers are finally sticking to their guns and not going back until they see results. This is just what I've been hearing from friends in Kpalime. Who knows? Maybe teachers will be back in school next week or maybe this will go on for weeks. I've come to learn the meaning of patience in Togo. Always expect the unexpected. You never really know what is going to happen so you just have to "roll with it."
- The Huffington Post
I teach at a private school in Kpalime, so normally the strikes don't affect us. In my conversations with the teachers at my school it seems that a pattern has emerged in Togo with regard to teachers' strikes: 1) The teachers go on strike demanding a pay increase 2) The government negotiates and promises an increase 3) The teachers go back to work, believing that the government will do what they promised 4) The government ends up not giving the teachers the pay increase that they demanded 5) A few months later, the teachers demand a pay increase, go on strike, and the pattern starts all over again.
This has been going on for years, but it seems like this time the teachers are finally sticking to their guns and not going back until they see results. This is just what I've been hearing from friends in Kpalime. Who knows? Maybe teachers will be back in school next week or maybe this will go on for weeks. I've come to learn the meaning of patience in Togo. Always expect the unexpected. You never really know what is going to happen so you just have to "roll with it."
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