Normal academic activities are paralyzed at Catholic schools in Monrovia and its environs after teachers stopped working in demand for salary increment and other employment benefits.

The president of the Association of Catholic Teachers and Support Staff (ACTS), Mr. Augustine W. Weah, said they were constrained to carry on the “go-slow” action after several bargaining arrangements between them and the Secretariat failed to address their demands.

He said told reporters Wednesday that they will remain on “go-slow” until their demands are fully met.

Mr. Weah cried that, “for too long the Catholic Church has been recessive to our demands in the name of negotiation after which nothing can be taken seriously to address the labor crisis in the Catholic School System in the Archdiocese of Monrovia.”

He disclosed that the current salaries of teachers and support staff members in the Catholic School System range from LD5,000 minimum to LD8,000 maximum, while each elementary student pays nearly LD15,000 and a high school student pays over LD20,000 yearly.

Some students told this paper that they have not held classes since last week due to lack of teachers.

“My mother just paid more than US$100 as my second semester school fees and since then we can just come on campus, but cannot see teachers to teach us,” complained one student from the St. Micheal High School in Gardnerville.

“We went on campus and there were no teachers and this has been happening since last week,” according to two female students returning from Christ the King Catholic School in Paynesville.

A tenth grader at Cathedral Catholic School said: “Since this week, nothing much has been done on campus. Most of the teachers are not even coming”.

The strike resembles a recurrence of what happened last year, causing serious inconvenience to students and parents, especially after paying tuition for second semester.

When contacted, a receptionist at the Catholic Education Secretariat in Monrovia said the head of the Secretariat was “visiting the schools”.