Drop pre-tertiary education bill – Teacher Unions insist

Teacher unions in the Eastern Region have held a press conference Tuesday calling on government to drop the pre-tertiary education bill until outstanding concerns of teachers are resolved with the Ministry of Education (MoE).

The unions made up of GNAT, National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana (CCT-GH) say they will resist any attempt by government to decentralise Education under the Local government Ministry either than the Education Ministry.

Parliament reportedly referred the Teacher Unions to the Education Ministry for further engagement on some outstanding matters of concern to them on the pre-tertiary education bill.

The bill is currently before Parliament.

However, Teacher Unions called on Parliament last week to suspend any further deliberations on the Pre-tertiary Education Bill until they have resolved all outstanding issues with the Ministry of Education.

The Education Ministry in a statement signed by its Director of Communications, Ekow Vincent Assafuah, emphasized that Government’s agenda, as stipulated in the 1992 Constitution will not be derailed by sectional interest.

“The Ministry wishes to state further that it is committed to pursuing important reforms towards improving learning outcomes in our institutions of learning for the ultimate development of this country,” it said.

But the Teacher unions still contend that the bill, when passed in its current form, would result in the “dismemberment, disintegration and destruction of the teaching profession” which will have negative effect on the entire education system.

Per the bill, the proposed structure of the management of education would be such that senior high schools would be run by the Regional Coordinating Councils while basic schools would be run by the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies whereas technical and vocational schools would be under a Director-General, independent of the Ghana Education Service (GES).

The Unions say this policy will corrupt the education system with unnecessarily partisan politics and polarize the system.

The Joint press conference was addressed by Mr. John Selby, Eastern Regional GNAT Chairman.