THE NATIONAL leadership of the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) has been urged to speed up in concluding negotiations on conditions of service for its member institutions.
According to TEWU, the payment of Critical Support for some staff of the Ghana Education Service (GES) and issues relating to the proper placement of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the Colleges of Education, to reflect the new degree-awarding status of such institutions, as well as the re-composition of the governing councils for the Colleges of Education also deserve prompt attention.
In a statement issued by its General Secretary, Augustine Saakuur Karbo, TEWU listed its member institutions as the universities and polytechnics, the GES, the Colleges of Education, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), the Ghana Library Authority, Ghana Museums and Monuments Board, Ghana Institute of Languages (GIL), Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), including private schools like Lincoln Community International School, German-Swiss and Ghana International School.
It stated: “We really want to serve notice to the government, GES, Ministry of Education and other stakeholders that we have dialogued, consulted and engaged enough and also petitioned the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on the Critical Support for some staff of the GES, yet we have not heard anything positive. We hope these issues will be resolved soonest, because we will not take any explanation or excuses for inaction regarding these outstanding concerns.”
The statement observed that “there is no doubt that last year, both teaching and non-teaching staff in the national interest went the extra mile in ensuring the successful implementation of government’s double track policy under the free senior high school system.”
It added that “looking at the double track and its associated workload, TEWU will not be asking too much by urging government to pay our members for the extra work they are doing for the double track and by extension the free SHS system to work efficiently for the training of quality human resource for the country.”
As a union, it noted, “TEWU appreciates government’s employment opportunities in the GES. We call for the process to be fast-track for employment of non-teaching staff into the public universities, technical universities/polytechnics, Colleges of Education because of high numbers of vacancies, due to retirement, resignation and death.”
But it stressed that “filling such vacancies is very urgent so that the institutions can have their full staff strength for both academic and non-academic work.”
According to the statement, “the idea of getting clearance from the Ministry of Finance is good, but there should be an innovative way to overcome the delays around the clearance for employment.”
BY Melvin Tarlue