The All Teachers Alliance Ghana (ATAG) has urged teachers nationwide to hold union officials accountable to better working conditions.
According to the union, the teaching profession is still plagued by problems with promotions and transfers. It explained that it doesn’t appear that the teacher unions have made any attempts to guarantee that these problems are remedied.
ATAG indicated that after negotiating “substandard laptops” for teachers, GNAT, NAGRAT, and CCT’s credibility is now in question. It revealed that unions were able to successfully deduct teachers’ salaries, but they were unable to guarantee that all teachers received the laptops in the same manner.
“We implore teachers to hold union officials accountable for better working conditions. Teachers must refuse any uproductive call for strike that serves the interests of a select group of privileged national officers of GNAT, NAGRAT, and CCT. No one has asked them to oppose a political appointment; it is their interest and vindictiveness.”
Albert Amoah Dadson
General Secretary of ATAG, Albert Amoah Dadson, stated that while unions are supposed to represent teachers and act in their best interests, they are presently occupied with opposing the choice of a new Director General. He described the justification the unions have provided for opposing the appointment as perplexing.
“Surprisingly, they keep threatening the President with threat after threat, stating, among other things, that teachers must be represented by educators rather than ‘a banker.’ NAGRAT even asserts that the appointment is against the terms of the collective bargaining agreement for teachers. At their most recent conference, GNAT also made a similar vow to vehemently oppose the appointment.”
Albert Amoah Dadson
Appointment of GES Director-General
Mr Dadson stated that after going on strike due to the high cost of living, teacher unions negotiated for a 15% COLA. Prior to the demand, he noted that the teaching community was dealing with several concerns that required equal attention. However, the unions chose to focus their justification for COLA on the high cost of living.
Mr Dadson explained that GNAT NAGRAT and CCT have no control in exerting pressure to prevent an appointment. He indicated that the only thing these unions can do to help teachers in Ghana is to oppose the appointment of a new DG, although there are other urgent concerns facing them.
ATAG’s General Secretary emphasized that the unions are unable to strike over the backlog of promotions at the headquarters that have been pending since 2016 or the delay in laptop distribution. This, he bemoaned, demonstrates unequivocally where teacher unions interests lie.
“If teacher unions are truly concerned about the predicament of teachers, we do not believe it is appropriate for them to call for a strike in protest of an appointment when they claim the new DG does not even merit that gesture.”
Albert Amoah Dadson
Mr Dadson highlighted that GNAT, NAGRAT, and CCT are solely interested in fighting a course that no one has ordered them to fight and teachers must be aware of the truth and be cautious of them. He opined that in any scenario, teacher unions should file a lawsuit if they believe the new DG was chosen improperly.
“What, once more, prevented the teacher unions from meeting with the president or the minister of education to express their dissatisfaction and request for a change? Instead, they opted to issue needless threats in public.”
Albert Amoah Dadson
Among other things, Mr Dadson revealed that the DG is chosen politically and no teacher or GES employee automatically holds the position of Director General. He emphasized that the administrative nature of the Director General’s position means that it can be filled by the most seasoned administrator from a variety of backgrounds.
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