Deadline to Education Showdown: Teacher Unions Demand Resolution
Deadline to Education Showdown today, What Next, ?
Fighting For,
Rent advance
Allowance for teachers in Deprived / difficult areas
Salary Advance
Medical Care
Advance for purchase of durable household goods
Additional duty allowance etc
A payslip circulating on social media belonging to a College of Education Tutor suggest, so many allowances being enjoyed whilst nothing for the Pre-tertiary Teacher.
According to ITN on Facebook, ”I’m so angry, I want to come live and rant, but I can’t find my helmet. I don’t want to be Teacher Kwodwo 😆
But let me say this.
Our pre-tertiary teacher unions can do better. Unions elsewhere fight to get allowances added to their members’ payslips to make their lives better, but ours are always making decisions that will take money out of our payslips.
If a college tutor is paid an entertainment allowance, what shows that we don’t deserve entertainment too?
If a college tutor is getting housing, car maintenance, fuel, and electricity subsidy allowances, what shows that we don’t deserve all of these things too?
We reward our teacher Unions with our dues every month to seek our welfare but…..
See, If a teacher can leave our country to go and collect rubbish in another man’s country but be able to save in a month what they couldn’t save after working for a year, you should know that something is wrong”
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On August 29, 2023; In a resounding display of dissatisfaction, teacher unions across the nation have united to present an ultimatum to the Ministry of Education, compelling them to resolve a series of longstanding grievances before the deadline of September 30, 2023.
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Since 2020, teacher unions have embraced the use of a collective agreement document in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ministry of Education.
However, despite the majority of items within the agreement necessitating implementation, a significant number of crucial provisions remain unfulfilled.
The situation has escalated to the point where Teachers in underprivileged regions are facing extreme challenges, including having to swim to school due to lack of proper transportation. Although these teachers are entitled to additional allowances, these financial provisions have not been extended, further exacerbating the issue.
One of the primary areas of contention lies in salary increments. Rather than a focus on increased wages, a substantial portion of teachers express their preference for receiving allowances, which have been consistently overlooked.
Here are allowances agreed upon to be given to teachers
Rent advance
Allowance for teachers in Deprived / difficult areas
Salary Advance
Medical Care
Advance for purchase of durable household goods
Additional duty allowance
Transfer Grant/ Permanent Posting allowance
Advance to purchase means of Transport
Vehicle maintenance allowance
Kilometric allowance
Travelling expense allowance
Physically challenged Guide; Daily minimum wage for 27 days. and more Revised Approved Rates of allowances for Teaching Staff within GES
The stipulated allowances, which encompass above and more, have failed to materialize in nearly 90% of teachers’ payslip.
Adding to the mounting concerns, teacher unions are urgently calling for a revision of the now-expired collective agreement.
This includes the absence of vital allowances and the necessity to address the imminent lapse of the agreement’s validity.
Key grievances that the teacher unions demand swift resolution for are as follows:
In 2009, a collective agreement was forged between the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Teacher Unions. The agreement mandated a 20% gross salary increment for teachers posted to underserved areas. However, this commitment remained unfulfilled until the agreement’s renewal in 2020.
The 2020 Collective Agreement outlined the initiation of a study, conducted in partnership with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, to ascertain appropriate allowances for teachers. Despite the GES’s responsibility for launching the study, their inaction led the teacher unions to independently fund the entire study.
Although the report detailing the study’s findings has been submitted to the GES, no tangible progress has ensued.
This prolonged waiting period, extending over fourteen years, has exhausted the patience of teacher unions. Their patience has reached its limit, compelling them to take action at this juncture.
Of particular concern is the unaddressed directive from the President of the Republic for the Minister of Education to refund GHS44.55 to teachers. This directive, reiterated during subsequent meetings, has yet to be honored by the Ministry, even as of August 29, 2023.
All efforts to prompt the Ministry of Education to fulfill this refund have proven futile, leading to mounting unrest and frustration among members of the teacher unions.
In light of these mounting issues, teacher unions, which include GNAT, NAGRAT, and CCT-GH, have presented a clear deadline for the Ministry of Education. If these matters are not adequately addressed by the end of September 30, 2023, the unions will take further action.
The resolve of the teacher unions underscores their commitment to resolving these grievances for the betterment of educators across the nation.
This coupled with the call for the review of the collective agreement as it has even surved it time and has expired are some of the unresolved grievances teacher unions want the ministry to attend to as a matter of urgency.
Source; Teacher Unions
