The poverty cycle of a typical male teacher in Ghana is complex

Hon. Jerry Akporhor has painstakingly explained the complex nature of the poverty cycle of a typical male teacher in Ghana, which has been shared here to provoke your thoughts as a teacher. The Author is a Teacher, Counselling Psychologist, Mental Health Advocate, and Lead Educator of the Informed Teachers Network.

Below is what he shared in the “poverty cycle of a typical male teacher in Ghana”

1. A typical male teacher is from a poor home. I know this is because no rich man or woman in Ghana will send his son to a teacher training college.
2. After completing a professional training programme, mostly between the ages of 22 and 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.
3. 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 himself, so whether he’s stable yet or not doesn’t really matter.
4. He starts keeping his rooms in shape by procuring a few household properties. Once that is achieved, the next thing is to satisfy sexual desires. And this is usually the beginning of life’s backwardness and stagnation.

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 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.

5. He starts playing around with poor, needy girls in the village in the name of girlfriends, mostly without the intention of marrying soon until one gets pregnant, and he has no option but to marry her as a housewife and continue rearing her and the unborn.

For strange reasons, he doesn’t think or feel he deserves well-doing career women who bring something to the table.

6. 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 fewer responsibilities, 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.
7. Once he successfully multiplies his problems quickly, he begins to see what’s coming and starts thinking of getting a second source of income. This is mostly the second wave of storm that lands most in debt. 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, a fast-food mentality, limited or borrowed funds, and a lack of relevant knowledge and skills. All these come together to give him a successful failure, landing him in a very tight financial corner.
8. He sees the need for further education. He compounds his problems and frustration by going for the wrong program for the wrong reasons. There was no proper consultation but only faulty assumptions and hearsay. Latter will be secretly regretting how unproductive his decisions are but will be publicly defending and justifying them. Well, if your mother is dead and you say she’s sleeping, evening will come.
9. 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; he may struggle to put up a residence with a loan; he accepts the status quo and secretly hopes that the government does something magical for his situation to change. This never happens. The long-term promotions don’t change much due to inflation, and he retires poor and miserable.

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When 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.

✍ Hon. Jerry Akporhor

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Teacher, Counselling Psychologist, Mental Health Advocate, and Lead Educator of the Informed Teachers Network

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