The Ministry of Education has said that it can do very little to get striking teachers back into the classrooms especially when the Finance Ministry has not released their allowances which have been in arrears for months.
The Ghana National Association of Teachers(GNAT), the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) and the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) announced, on Monday, an indefinite strike which starts from Tuesday.
The declaration of their strike is to protest the non-payment of their three-month salary arrears, transfer grants and vehicle maintenance allowances.
[contextly_sidebar id=”9v6u6YeXxYYGWA6oAlqpHhSalavEtCKL”]Speaking to Citi News, the Head of Public Relations at the Education Ministry, Paul Krampah said the decision by the three unions to embark on a separate strike was surprising, especially when their issues are currently being addressed.
“I am surprised that they have decided to embark on the strike because the issues they raised are issues being addressed by the National Labour Commission (NLC). They are issues that are being handled by the Ghana Education Service. the GES actually has the mandate to handle issues relating to teachers at the paid tertiary level, and that is exactly what they have been doing. They have been engaging them in discussions,” he said.
Mr. Krampah added that “the Ministry of Education does not pay salaries of workers, neither does it pay the allowances of teachers. What we do at the Ministry is to facilitate whatever is due teachers and that is exactly what we have been doing. If funds are not released by the Finance Ministry, what can the [Education] Ministry do? The Ministry cannot do anything.”
Meanwhile, Labour analyst Austin Gamey has criticised the strike by the teacher unions saying it could adversely affect students.
“Do they want a solution to the problem or do they want to destroy the children. If it is a solution to their problem, then they know exactly what to do and I know that they know it. But if it is a question of wanting to let government feel the pinch then the children they are taking care of, they are the people we should be concerned about,” he opined.
The teachers are already part of an ongoing labour strike, fighting for the release of their tier two pension funds, a move that has been backed by IMANI and the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
The government has criticised the strike, describing it as unlawful and unnecessary and forced government to resort to the court to”seek interpretation” of the Pensions Act.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana