Executive Director of the Institute for Education Studies (IFEST), Dr Peter Anti, has describe Dr Eric Nkansah, the new Ghana Education Service Director General (GES), as a victim of circumstance.
According to him, there are underlying issues that have resulted in the current decision by the teachers unions to strike over his appointment. He however expressed optimism that Dr Nkansah will sail through despite this choppy moment.
Dr Anti equally urged him to “learn from the atmosphere around his appointment” which must propel him to transform the education system to the higher level.
“I personally do not know him, I have read about him [and] I’m told that he worked at the ministry of education… I don’t have any issue with his capability or ability. I think that he is a victim of circumstances and if on a normal day such an appointment was made, I don’t think that we will have had this challenge coming up.”
Dr Peter Anti
Commenting on whether Dr Nkansah has the requisite background in education to fill in the position at the GES, Dr Anti indicated that previous heads of the Service were all professional teachers and that is what the unions are predicating their strike on. He explained that although the profile of Dr Nkansah proves he has extensive teaching experience, there are other elements he falls short.
“I think that the problem basically with his qualification is that he is not a professional teacher and being called to head a professional body like the Ghana Education Service, where the majority of its members are professional teachers and coming from the background that we are even admonishing every teacher to be certified and given the needed license before he or she can teach, it means that we needed somebody who had also gone through the education system with a qualification as a professional teacher. I think that is where the teacher unions are coming from.”
Dr Peter Anti
Dr Anti stated that he is tempted to side with the striking teachers if the qualification of Dr Nkansah does not provide evidence of he being a professional teacher with requisite experience.
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The IFEST executive director expressing his take on the ongoing strike action stated that in hindsight, the situation could have been handled differently. He underscored that within the professional systems, appointments ought to be used to rather motivate the rank and file of the union.
“So, where there is hesitance, you try as much as possible to find ways and means to use that particular appointment to signal the unions [and] the members of the systems that you believe in their capability, you believe in hard work and when one is able to climb to the topmost level, he will be given what is due him.”
Dr Peter Anti
The industrial action, Dr Anti revealed, is supposed to be the last option when it comes to agitation because the effect of strike on especially the education sector is huge. He stated that considering the distorted nature of the academic calendar, government should have been proactive in dealing with the matter when the union first signalled its intention to embark on an industrial action.
“I think there was adequate time given the relevant authorities that this was going to happen. So, the first approach would have been to engage them extensively so that we wouldn’t have reached the 4th November deadline. Unfortunately, it happened that we had to get to this stage. I wished that we wouldn’t have gotten here but I feel that the teacher unions also thought that their concerns were being brushed off and they needed to make a huge statement.”
Dr Peter Anti
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