By Naa Shormei Odonkor, GNA
Koforidua, May 9, GNA – The last two years have been immensely challenging for teachers, according to Mr. Peter D. Kpakpo-Atsem, the Eastern Regional GNAT Secretary, highlighting the various struggles faced by educators during this period.
Speaking with the Ghana News Agency after a press conference in Koforidua, he said teachers had been faced with disruptions caused by the unstable academic calendar and extra teaching burden, causing significant stress to teachers.
Despite these challenges, he said teachers had shown remarkable resilience and dedication in ensuring that education continued for students during these trying times.
He said the last two years had been the most tortuous for the Ghanaian teacher with no ray of hope of relief initiated by the government or the employer.
Thus, he stated, “We are giving the Employer up to May 13, 2024, to address our concerns. Should the Employer fail to address our demands on or before May 13, 2024, then we shall call on the leadership to act immediately.”
Teacher unions in the pre-tertiary education sector initiated a strike on March 20, 2024, to point out the importance of receiving a positive response from the government regarding their demands.
A second strike could potentially disrupt the education system and cause significant delays, particularly for Junior High School students taking the 2024 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
But pre-tertiary education teacher unions in the Eastern Region are determined and have joined their counterparts in the Volta Region to act against the government after May 13, 2024, if their allowance concerns are not addressed.
The unions, consisting of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NaGRAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) said the allowances were reduced from 17 to four due to several considerations.
“The allowances we have been battling over the past 15 years and counting are 17. However, due to several considerations, we have reduced them to four.”
The four allowances negotiated with the government included deprived area allowance, extra assessment allowance, book/data/online teaching allowance and upward adjustment of continuing professional development allowance.
He noted that despite the gesture of good faith shown to the government by minimising the unions’ demand, the government was still adamant and exhibiting “a gesture of bad faith.”
He said the unions had been restless owing to the government’s continued failure to respond to their demands since the negotiation of the Collective Agreement (CA) in 2009 and after the 2020 CA.
“Our members are reeling under the utter hardship imposed on us all by the current economic conditions in the country,” he added.
GNA