A teacher in a class in Torit, - File Photo

A senior official at the Ministry of Education says the government is committed to increasing teachers’ salaries to keep them in the job.

The Director of Partners Coordination in the Ministry of General Education, George Ali said on Thursday that teachers will soon start receiving incentives on top of their increased salary every quarter of the financial year.

According to Ali, the financial motivation for teachers, especially in hard-to-reach areas will come from the European Union while the rest of the incentives will be taken care of by the government.

The official said he is grateful to many teachers who have dedicated themselves to continue teaching children despite the challenges.

“We are proud of our teachers who are still in the classrooms; we want to tell them that incentives are to encourage teachers so that they will be in the classrooms and they will teach,” said Ali.

The teachers will receive incentives every three months once the Ministry of General Education starts implementing this year’s budget.

“We want to motivate them and let them know that the government is still thinking about them, the government is concerned about them and our minister has done her best to see to it that teachers’ salaries are increased and even there are additional incentives for teachers.”

According to reports, low pay in the education sector has forced qualified teachers to abandon their careers in order to seek better paying jobs with non-governmental organizations.

In recent years, teachers were reported to have gone on salary-related strikes and demonstrations across the country.

The states of Lakes, Upper Nile and Central Equatoria were rocked by the strikes that have disrupted learning and led to arrests.

But Ali hopes that the anticipated incentives payment will help retain those still teaching.