More clarity is needed on the government’s position on the employment freeze for the public sector, the Vice President of National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Angel Carbonu has said.
Mr. Carbonu noted to Citi News that current indications from the government on the matter are at odds with the need for personnel in Ghana Education Service and the Ghana Health Service, which have declared vacancies for teachers and health professionals.
[contextly_sidebar id=”q4eYPbmn5vCC4Rvh2wzzvHmyFN9aSW2k”]The Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo Maafo addressing the 2017 Ghana Economic Forum said the government did not have the capacity to employ more public servants.
He even said Government might even be forced to lay off some workers if the need arises.
Whatever the government’s plan. Mr. Karbonu believes the Health and Education sectors should be exempt from any freezes on employment or possible layoffs, given the dire need for personnel in these sectors.
“The Senior Minister should have segregated the public sector and indicated directly which part of the public sector he is referring to because I do know that the policy indicates that there are vacancies in the Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Education Service.”
“So are we saying that there is a ban on employment in both the Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Education Service whilst we are aware a lot of school’s need teachers… if it is a general policy then I am afraid to say that a lot of classrooms will be empty and without teachers.”
He cautioned further that “the consequences of not having teachers to teach children are very dangerous for today and for the future.”
The New Patriotic Party trumpeted job creation en route to its 2016 election victory but statements indicating otherwise eight months down the line are disturbing, Mr. Karbonu added.
“Statements like these begin to disturb people. For example, the numerous teacher trainees trained over the years and the numerous health services trainees trained over the years will get disturbed when some these statements are made.”
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By: Zoe Abu-Baidoo/Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana