Angry Teachers threaten government over their arrears

Teacher unions in Ghana have given the Ghana Education Service (GES) and other governing authorities a week to settle “legacy arrears” owed them within the period of 2012 to 2016. They have threatened to take action if their demands are not met.

The three teacher unions – National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers – Ghana (CCT – GH) staged a walk out in a meeting with supervisory bodies last Friday, to “ register [their] displeasure and frustration about the delay in the salary arrears owed to some teachers”.

According to the Head of salaries and conditions of service – GNAT, K. Ahenawa-Quarshie, the meeting with the authorities which included the GES and the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR), was to discuss the way forward regarding the “legacy Arrears”.

He explained that, the walk out was staged due to some reasons given by the GES for withholding the payment of the arrears. 

The GES noted that there were some discrepancies in with some payments for the arrears, which included the following:

1. Some teachers were paid on ranks they are not on
2. Some have no records on the pay roll between 2012 to 2016
3. Some teachers were not owed arrears yet were credited with huge amounts

The teacher unions however disagreed with reasons because the arrears were approved by Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) before its submission.

“We believe, the inputs were done by a professional entity for payment and was okayed by the Controller and Accountant General Internal Audit for that matter the teachers cannot be made to suffer for the negligence of anyone”

The teachers unions hence demanded that the arrears be paid as soon as possible to avoid “their wrath”

Source: Jonas Danquah || ghananewsonline.com.gh