Insurance for teachers and the administering of vaccines
Welcome to our weekly blog for Teacher Tapp Ghana!!
Every Monday we summarize our most surprising and interesting survey findings from the week before. This weekly blog provides an easy way for you to learn about the experiences and opinions of teachers across Ghana.
Please encourage your colleagues to use the Teacher Tapp app to keep engaged with education even when they’re not teaching. Your responses are also a vital data source that will guide decision-making around best policies and approaches for enhancing the welfare of educators/teachers and ensuring robust educational sector management.
Many more teachers will like to be heard and this can be done through Teacher Tapp. Do share this blog with your colleagues and encourage them to use the download links at the bottom of the page. In the meantime, here are this week’s intriguing findings…
- Peer pressure is a leading cause of substance abuse amongst student
Substance abuse refers to the use of legal or illegal drugs or substances, like alcohol, for purposes other than those for which they are meant to be used, or in excessive amounts. Substance abuse continues to be a major canker for both local and foreign communities as efforts are being made into ensuring that people, especially young students desist from the practice. This week, we engaged with our Teacher Tappers to gather opinions on some of the leading causes of substance abuse. 71% of our respondents indicated that peer pressure was a leading cause of substance abuse followed by parental neglect. Even though these two have been cited as the major causes leading to substance/drug abuse, other minor factors such as curiosity and social media influence have been also been identified as contributing to this unfortunate phenomenon.
It is imperative that proper education and support are given to young students so that they do not fall victim to this vice.
- Most schools do not provide insurance policies for their teachers
Over the years, teachers in Ghana have raised concerns about their welfare needs. Even though the welfare of teachers varies from one place to the other, the welfare conditions of teachers are usually average in general. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, health-related issues have become a top priority for all individuals and institutions. In that light, we sought to find out from our users, if they had insurance policies from their respective schools. 88% of our users indicated that they did not have any insurance policy from their schools. During this pandemic period, the need to be a step ahead of health issues has been amplified greatly and we will like to call on all major stakeholders to help institute a desirable policy that will attend to the health needs of students.
- There are still mixed reactions to the AstraZeneca Vaccine
On the 24th of February, 2021, Ghana received its first shipment of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine as part of the government’s efforts to curb the pandemic. The arrival of the vaccines caused a lot of stir and generated a lot of discussions. Fear and doubt characterized the citizenry’s reaction to the vaccine. In a bid to clear all doubts and give the country hope, the President of the Republic and some other State dignitaries took the first shots of the vaccine. This week, we wanted to find out if the president’s action caused a change or otherwise in the citizenry’s perception about the “health threat” posed by the use of the vaccine. 43% of our respondents indicated that they were confident about the vaccine after the president’s action to receive the first shot while 46% indicated otherwise. It is clear that there are still mixed feelings about the vaccine. Regardless, it is important that we get vaccinated so that we can stand a better chance of defeating the virus as a country. Vaccination does not warrant a neglect of the COVID-19 safety protocols. In that regard, we are being reminded to carefully observe all the protocols as laid down by the health officials.