4 Teacher Unions Oppose Commercialization Of Public Basic Schools

Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh – Minister of Education

A TOTAL of four teacher unions have registered their displeasure over government’s intention to implement a new policy seeking to privatize the management of some basic public schools.

The Ghana Partnership Schools (GPS) Policy is slated to start in September 2019 on a pilot basis, but the teacher unions in a joint statement, said “Failure to abolish the policy will leave the unions with no option than to marshal our forces to resist this Ghana Partnerships Schools (GPS) Policy.”

The Unions include the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU), the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT-Gh), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT).

The statement was signed by the President of NAGRAT, Eric Angel Carbonu, General Secretary of GNAT, David Ofori Acheampong, National Chairman of TEWU, Peter K. Lumor, and Deputy General Secretary of CCT-Gh, Patrick Sackey.

They observed in the statement that “We, the Unions in pre-tertiary education, are against privatization, commercialization and commodification of public education in no uncertain terms and hereby serve notice to this effect.”

The GPS Project, DGN Online is informed, is scheduled to be piloted in the Northern, Central, Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions and will see the transfer of the management of 100 public basic schools to private players.

BY Melvin Tarlue

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