The disagreements between teachers’ unions and the education authorities always affect the academic calendar in a manner that does not inure to the interest of the pupils and students.
Talk about the factors which debase the quality of education and this proneness of such unions to go on strike at the least disagreement, comes to mind.
We have had one such strike actions too many in the past few years and to say the least, it is becoming unbecoming of teachers’ unions. They top the chart of the most strike-prone group in the country. Such an unenviable reference for those who mould our future leaders is shameful.
Sometimes, we wonder whether it is about the interest of the teachers only which makes such pastimes selfish. They do not appear to care about education in general and for that matter, the future of our country.
We may be right given sometimes the causes of some of the strike actions to regard the teachers’ unions as being susceptible to the manipulation of politically inclined interest groups. We could be right.
The issue of the appointment of a Director General of the Ghana Education Service, now a bone of contention in the ongoing imbroglio between the teachers and the authorities, should not have reached the level we are witnessing today.
Couldn’t they have applied other avenues to resolve the disagreement? Of course, there are many alternatives besides this education debasing strike action now synonymous with them.
The education of our children will greatly be compromised when we allow teachers’ unions to do as they please regarding the education of our future leaders.
We do not know when the whole mess is going to be cleared; what we are assured about, however, is that when the children stay at home for too long, it would definitely after their academic performance.
For how long will they be able to stay away from the classrooms when the appointing authority maintains its position?
This precedent being set in the governance in this country should not be encouraged. The authority vested in the President to choose heads of department will be greatly eroded when unions start agitating and even going on strike when they are unsatisfied with the President’s appointments.
Should the President consult the teachers’ unions when he seeks to make appointments pertaining to teaching?
Even as the authorities engage with them, the point should be made that such holding of the country to ransom is not a preferred option.