By Lansana Fofanah.
In continuation of its nationwide sensitization of teachers on the Social Security Scheme which was launched in Freetown recently, the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT), in partnership with the Sierra Leone Teachers Union, yesterday engaged teachers in Bo District.
Addressing a mammoth crowd of teachers at the Saint Andrews Secondary School in Bo, the Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary School, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh, said that he hails from a teaching family and seeing NASSIT addressing teachersโ welfare, makes him happy and committed to the cause of improving their welfare and conditions.
He said that there are 85,000 teachers in Sierra Leone, but only 35,000 on the Government payroll which is worrisome and called on those with PIN codes not to misuse the opportunity. He said some teachers have been teaching for over ten years without a PIN Code but they as a government remain committed to solving those concerns with time.
He called on those with PIN Codes to take the sensitization and verification exercise seriously, as some of them have not been receiving salaries because of mismatched information.
“This is the time for you to help us with the correct information by going to the Sierra Leone Teaching Service Commission, the Sierra Leone Teachers Union and NASSIT with correct information so that you can be helped,” he admonished.
The Director-General of NASSIT, Mohamed Fuaad Daboh, commended teachers for their massive turnout as it shows the need for such engagement.
He said that engaging teachers in the Southern Region is part of the Trust sectoral approach to address various concerns of contributors in their quest to make the scheme better.
He said that the exercise is to see the elimination of incorrect information such as inconsistent date of birth, different PIN codes due to multiple registrations and to update their records.
“We pay the correct amount, to the right person and at the right time. But that can only be done if the correct information is presented,” he said.
The President of the Sierra Leone Teachers Union, Alhaji Mohamed Sallieu Bangura, underscored the importance of such sensitization which teachers should use to ask pertinent questions in relation to their contributions with NASSIT.
The SLTU President commended NASSIT for proactively engaging teachers to address whatever issue they might have be having so that upon retirement, they will have their pensions easily.
The Commissioner of Teaching Service Commission, Conrad Sckey hailed NASSIT and SLTU for the fact that they have come to meet the teachers in their comfort zone is a testimony of how the institutions value contributors as teachers used to travel to Freetown to solve those problems. He called on teachers to constantly visit NASSIT regional office in Bo to rectify and update their data.
Yussuf T Sheriff, a teacher from the Ansarul Secondary School, New London in Bo, commended NASSIT for such a laudable venture.
