Teachers in Ghana are among many workers in the country who complain a lot about conditions of service and benefits. One thing I have found out over the years is that only few workers in Ghana are happy with their remuneration and other conditions of service. Like human needs and wants, you may never be satisfied with your salary. Here are opportunities to add extra income to your account.
Part-Time Teaching
The first and obvious thing a teacher in Ghana can do is to organise what many call ‘extra classes’. This was once banned by the Ministry of Education, l learned. However, voluntary classes that you propose to the parents of your students to help them with subjects that they obviously need assistance, should not violate the rule. Part-time teaching is a simple and convenient way to bag extra bucks. You can earn as much as your full-time salary, or even more if you get a large number of students to enroll.
Organize Trips and Events
As kids we wanted to roam the world, freely. Kids like to travel. They love to see the things that they see in books and those that teachers teach them in class. As a little boy I yearned to grab every opportunity to see places and meet new people. Teachers can organise trips to interesting and historical places at a fee. You can either bill the parents of the students or obtain sponsorship from corporate organisation for the trips. You must however make sure that these trips are beneficial to the academic and social development of the students. And of course, you should make money from these trips. Not exorbitant though.
Teach Online
Another simple way to deploy your teaching skills is to turn to the internet. You can make teaching videos and post them online. Youtube is one place that provides such a platform. Once you get many subscribers, you begin to monetize it. Learn youtube success strategies earning top dollar making videos.
Sell to Your Students
Stationery is major on the list of students. Books, pens, pencils, crayons etc are all items you can sell and make decent margins on them. Source for high quality but cheap stationery and buy in bulk. You can onward sell it to students at prices better than what they would get them from a stationery depot.
Brand Yourself and Make Money
This involves more work than the previous four opportunities. To become an authority in a particular subject, you need to learn. You must also let the world know that you are an expert in the field. You can employ traditional and/or digitial media to help you brand yourself as such.
Do not hesitate to show the world your achievements and your capabilities as an expert in academia or industry expert, whichever the case may be. You can blog, use youtube videos, appear on authoritative TV shows, radio etc to help you project the image that would eventually help you make money. If you do it right, be sure to start milking the brand soon.