A typical male teacher is from a poor home. I know this because no rich man or woman in Ghana will send his son to a teacher training college.
After completing a professional training program, mostly between the ages of 22 to 28, he gets posted to a village. I know this because urban areas are mostly a preserve for females, those who have paid their dues in the system for a long time and those with strong connections.
Once he begins to receive salaries, he thinks he can solve all family problems. He begins making commitments even though he’s not firmly rooted in the ground, affecting his personal growth and development. Of course, he left home to feed home so whether he’s stable yet or not doesn’t really matter.
He starts keeping his rooms in shape by procuring a few household properties. Once that is achieved, the next thing is to gratify sexual desires. And this is usually the beginning of backwardness and stagnation in life.
A young man of 22 to 28 from a poor home trying to change his story and make a difference, what business does he have doing in marriage especially with a needy girl who is doing nothing productive? We find creative and innovative ways of quickly multiplying our responsibilities not our income.
He starts playing around with poor needy girls in the village in the name of girlfriends mostly without the intentions of marrying soon until one gets pregnant and he has no option than to marry her as housewife and continue rearing her and the unborn.
For strange reasons, he doesn’t think or feel he deserves well-doing career women that bring something to the table.
There’s also this one who, instead of saving the excess income for a long enough period to be able to pursue a sustainable source of extra income or quickly begin chasing after personal development further studies while he has less responsibilities, he prefers to be comfortable in the village, have pity on one needy girl who is either attending school or learning a trade and begin rearing her with the mind of getting married to her which mostly ends in tears. They often grow wings.
Once he successfully multiplies his problems quickly, he begins to see what’s coming, he starts thinking of getting a second source of income. This is mostly the second wave of storm that lands most in debts.
He is so bad at it that he is better off just trying to live below his income and saving the little. He won’t get enough resources, knowledge and skills.
He enters with desperation, fast-food mentality, limited or borrowed funds, and lack of relevant knowledge and skills. All these coming together to give him a successful failure landing him in a very tight financial corner.
He sees the need for further education. He compounds his problems and frustration by going for the wrong program for the wrong reasons. No proper consultation but only faulty assumptions and hearsays. Latter, he will be secretly regretting how unproductive his decisions are but be publicly defending and justifying it. Well, if your mother is de^d and you say she’s sleeping, evening will come.
In an attempt to solve some of these self-imposed problems, he ends up making even more mistakes. He falls into the same trap as those before him.
Life takes a different turn, he’s unable to change much about his situation, maybe struggle to put up a residence with a loan, accepts the status quo and secretly hopes that the government does something magical for his situation to change.
This never happens. The long service promotions don’t change much due to inflation and he retires poor and miserable.
New ones join the service, they continue the cycle . If you agree with me, you are right. If you disagree with me, you are also right.
Written By:
- Hon Jerry Akporhor
- (Teacher Counseling Psychologist Mental Health Advocate & Lead Educator of Informed Teachers Network)