It is very disheartening for a newspaper, owned and managed by a civil society activist, to make unfounded and baseless allegations against a credible Trade Union entity in the country-the Sierra Leone Teachers Union (SLTU)
The author has not been able to substantially make their accusations clear, by stating how the SLTU, the umbrella body for teachers, could undermine the Government. Was it a ploy to just paint the SLTU in a bad light or was it done to curry favour from the Ministry?
The SLTU is on record of having challenged the Voice of Teachers on several occasions, especially when they have severally attempted to lure teachers to undertake strike actions across the country.
Press releases by the SLTU, to a large extent, have helped in quelling the tensions arising among teachers across the country. The SLTU has, in all of their press releases, encouraged its membership to exercise patience while also updating them on the status of the negotiations.
The only area in the country where a go-slow has taken place to the knowledge of the SLTU is Makeni. Besides, the Union has been making frantic efforts, through using the District Security Committee structure, to get the teachers to go back to work.
The SLTU has continued to enjoy the support of the Ministry of Education, especially with the Minister, who is part and parcel of the Union. The Union has always consulted with the Ministry on all matters concerning the welfare of teachers.
It is therefore callous, unprofessional and irresponsible for any mushroom media to have misrepresented the SLTU in that bad light.