A Member of Parliament on the majority side, Ekow Vincent Assafuah has taken on the authorities of the Education Ministry for the strike action embarked on by teachers.
According to him the strike action was needless if the right thing had been done.
The strike is coming on the heels of the removal of the Ghana Education Service (GES) Director-General and replacing him with a banker which the teachers have kicked against.
“When you have an ill conceived, selfish and baseless recommendation emanating from the Ministry of Education to the Presidency to relieve an Educationist at the helm of affairs of his post and bring in an alien to the industry, this is what happens.
” Our democracy is growing. As a member of the Education committee of Parliament, the recommendation from the Ministry of Education to the Presidency is not only untenable but also unreasonable and backward”, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, a Member, Education Committee of Parliament wrote.
Three teacher unions have withdrawn their services over the appointment of the new Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr. Eric Nkansah.
According to them, until the GES boss is removed they are not going to return to their classroom.
The three teachers unions, National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers, Ghana (CCT).
They declared the strike on Friday, November 4, 2022 after the expiration of an ultimatum the unions gave the government to revoke Dr. Nkansah’s appointment.
Addressing the media, President of GNAT, Rev. Isaac Owusu indicated that they will not call off the strike until government addresses their concerns.
He stated that “It is unacceptable for a banker to be appointed as a Director-General of the Ghana Education Service instead of an educationist at the same time when many teachers who did the same courses and related ones were rejected by GES because it is not related to education.
“We stated that both the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service should apologize to teachers for accepting the very qualifications they rejected when teachers presented them…We have been compelled under the current circumstances to publicly communicate to Ghanaians on our intention to go on strike, having reached the November 4 deadline we gave the government. “Consequently, we have decided to embark on strike from today, Friday, November 4, 2022. By this, we are informing the general public that we are withdrawing all our services in all the pre-tertiary institutions.”
There are several concerns after the appointment of Dr. Eric Nkansah on October 19.
Some teachers union expressed their disapproval over the appointment, saying that the new GES Director-General does not qualify to occupy the position.
They want someone who has grown through the ranks of GES with teaching background.
However, the Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Adutwum disagreed with the argument.
By Vicent Kubi