The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has called on the government to address all unresolved issues adversely affecting teachers in the country.
The issues include the non-implementation of scheme of service for Ghana Education Service (GES) staff and the implementation of the Human Resource Management Information System that GNAT said had brought challenges to teachers, including delay in their salaries and promotion.
The demands are part of the directives given by the National Labour Commission (NLC) after meeting three teacher unions and their employers, represented by ministries and the Ghana Education Service (GES), after the unions embarked on strike on March 20 last year.
Findings
“It would be recalled that the commission, having heard the disputes and having met the parties jointly and in separate (caucus) sessions, made some findings and thereby gave some directives, among which was that since the GES had no Scheme of Service for the GES Staff and to ensure that future appointments do not encounter such challenges, the GES must provide its staff with a Scheme of Service,” it said.
GNAT has, therefore, given the government up to April 30, 2025, to address all the issues affecting teachers.
“It must be placed on record that these issues have not only created widespread disaffection, anger, worries and disillusionment among the rank and file of our members, but it is also seen as an act of provocation, which, if not addressed immediately, could affect the industrial peace on our front.
“In the light of the above, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) hereby gives the MoE, Ministry of Labour, Jobs and Employment (MOLJE), Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) and GES up to Wednesday, April 30, 2025, to address all the problems they have inflicted on teachers,” a letter dated March 28, 2025 addressed to the Minister of Education and signed by the General Secretary of GNAT, Thomas Musah, said.
2024 strike
It said the three teacher unions on March 20, 2024, declared a nationwide indefinite strike when the former Director-General of the GES, Dr Eric Nkansah, a banker, was appointed as the Director-General.
It said among the key issues they raised were the demand for the termination of Dr Nkansah’s appointment as the Director-General of the GES and subsequent directive by the NLC for the GES to develop a scheme of service for GES staff with timelines.
It further said two ranks in the GES, namely Director 2 and subsequently Director 1, should be decoupled from being coterminous with political districts and regions to pave way for the promotion of deputy directors to Director 2 and subsequently Director 1, among others.
“Following from the above, the NLC met the disputing parties on March 26, 2024, which included the MoE, Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations and Pensions (MELRP), now the Ministry of Labour, Jobs and Employment, Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) and the GES, on the one hand, and teacher unions, on the other hand.
“It would be recalled that the commission, having heard the disputes and having met the parties jointly and in separate (caucus) sessions, made some findings and thereby gave some directives, among which was that since the GES had no Scheme of Service for the GES staff and to ensure that future appointments do not encounter such challenges, the GES must provide its staff with a Scheme of Service,” it said.
Inputs
The letter said the GES, therefore, submitted a draft scheme of service to the teacher unions for their inputs by April 2024 as directed by the NLC and that the unions subsequently sent their feedback to the GES on July 15, 2024.
“After the submission of the feedback by the unions, the two parties worked together with the GES Consultant (Price WaterhouseCoopers) to complete the scheme of service, awaiting signing and subsequent implementation.
“We are, therefore, surprised, shocked and angry with the turn of events that yet again as we write this letter the same issue with appointments, which led us to the NLC and subsequent directives by the NLC to correct it by developing and implementing a scheme of service for GES staff, has resurfaced.
We see this as a blatant disregard for the NLC, which must not be allowed to continue,” it emphasised.
In light of the above, GNAT called upon the MoE, MOELJ, FWSC and GES to set a good example by obeying the directives of the NLC and demanded that the scheme of service be signed and implemented without fail by April 30, 2025.
Issues with PSC
In the early part of 2024, GNAT said the Public Services Commission (PSC) met with the unions and communicated to them its intent to reintroduce the Human Resource Management Information System.
“We raised our objection to it, citing the problems associated with it, and made it clear our non-association with its implementation. We cautioned that if the PSC proceeded with the implementation and anything went wrong, we would hold them responsible.
“We wish to place it on record that the PSC has gone ahead and implemented the HRMIS, which has resulted in numerous challenges to our teachers,” it said.
It named the challenges to include salary reactivation and that a significant number of teachers were confronted with undue delays with their salary activation.
As of December 2024, it said over 800 teachers were affected, with the delays ranging between four and 12 months.
Moreover, it said, many teachers who went for further studies (some of them self-sponsored), had been denied upgrading on successful completion of their studies and return to the service.
Also, it said, a good number of “our teachers below the rank of Principal Superintendent who were successful in their last promotion exercise have still not been upgraded and placed on their correct ranks”.
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