THE National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has called on the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to pay all arrears due teachers since January 2010.
The President of NAGRAT, Mr Christian Addai-Poku, who made the call, said it was equally important for the FWSC to standardise all allowances for public workers as a matter of urgency.
At a press conference organised in Kumasi after their national executive meeting, NAGRAT again called on the FWSC to convene the Public Sector Joint Negotiating Team meeting for them to start work to determine the new base pay for 2011.
Mr Addai-Poku explained that organising the joint negotiating team had become necessary due to the “recent increases in taxes and prices of petroleum products which had unleashed severe hardships on workers”.
The press conference sought to address issues relating to the migration of teachers’ salaries onto the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS), and what NAGRAT described as “succession problems within the Ghana Education Service (GES) and unwarranted releases of teachers within the GES.”
Mr Addai-Poku hinted that intensive work performed by a committee of experts, including members of NAGRAT, the GES and other teachers unions, had yielded fruitful results, as the salaries of teachers would be migrated onto the SSSS by the end of February.
“We are happy that the FWSC agreed to the new proposals submitted by teachers unions,” he announced, adding that, “this agreement has gone a long way to avert an imminent strike action by NAGRAT”.
While urging the FWSC to expedite action on migrating teachers onto the SSSS, Mr Addai-Poku cautioned members of NAGRAT to tone down their expectations for the Single Spine Pay Policy, explaining that “figures generated so far do not point to a marked increase in the salary of teachers, even if they were migrated onto the new salary structure”.
Expressing concern about what NAGRAT described as “illegality being perpetrated with respect to disengagement of headmasters and Directors of Education in Ghana, Mr Addai-Poku appealed to the Minister of Education to investigate the problem “to ensure a well structured succession plan within the GES”.
He suggested that “heads of institutions and Directors of Education should be made to proceed on leave prior to their retirement to enable them to prepare and psyche themselves for their handover”.
He pointed out that the rampant release of teachers without recourse to due process did not only create anarchy in the educational sector, but also did cause “ huge financial loss to the GES”.
Explaining, Mr Addai-Poku said “cases where teachers have enjoyed their full salaries for over a year without working are many, and this cannot be allowed to continue”.
Citing the case of Aburi Girls Senior High as an example, the NAGRAT President said some teachers in the school had been issued with release letters by the Regional Director of Education in the middle of an academic year without any reason being assigned.
“This action of hers is a slap in the face of Section 27 of our Collective Agreement which states that ‘release of teachers in both first and second cycle institutions shall take place at the end of the academic year”.
Mr Addai-Poku said apart from not following due process in releasing the teachers, the Regional Director also asked the affected teachers to bear the cost of their transfer.
He said their Collective Agreement makes it clear that “ a transfer grant of two months gross salary shall be paid to each member on approved transfer.
Explaining further, he said under the Collective Agreement, teachers were supposed to be “ paid a transfer grant at an appropriate rate where the transfer is at the instance of management, resulting in the change of station, as well as movement of household effects”.
He said since the affected teachers had not been charged with any offence and they had also not been brought before any disciplinary committee as enshrined in the Code of Discipline for teachers, they should not be treated in such a harsh manner.
While appealing to the acting Director General of the GES “to take immediate steps to reverse the problem” he urged the affected teachers to appeal against the action of the Eastern Regional Director of Education, Mrs Rene Boache Boateng”.
He gave an assurance that NAGRAT “will follow closely all developments related to the matter until the teachers get justice”.
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