Teachers Threaten to Lay Down Chalk Over Salary Palaver

ABOUT TWO thousand teachers with the grades of superintendent and assistant superintendent in the Eastern Region will lay down their pieces of chalk and pens from February 28, unless they are paid certain increments in their salaries.

"We shall embark on an indefinite strike at the end of February if we don't get our money", a resolution passed on January 25 by a section of the aggrieved teachers in Koforidua tersely warned.

It also gave February 15 as the deadline by which time if they are not "assured of receiving" the back pay they will embark on the sit-down strike.

The money, the teachers contend, is "our share of the increment granted our colleagues in December last year.

According to Eric Tetteh, the first signatory of the resolution, before the increment fresh graduates from the national post-secondary teacher-training colleges received lower salaries than their seniors who had served for more than eight years and been promoted to the level of superintendent.

University graduates started as superintendents.

"Right now a 'Certificate A' fresh from college and the superintendent both receive the same salary - ?524,000, net per month", he explained.

That is the salary paid at level 10 as laid down in guidelines set out by the Ministry of Finance in July last year.

Signed by the Chief Director, J. A. Yamoah, the document containing the guidelines was meant for the implementation of "recommendations of the appellate body of Ghana's Universal Salary Structure".

But the implementation has not gone down well with a section of the teachers here.

Assistant superintendents of education, post-secans who have served for at least three years were maintained at level 9.

"This means that those coming fresh from college are actually being paid more than their seniors in the filed", Tetteh explained, calling it a travesty of justice.

He wondered why the appellate body committed such an unpardonable oversight but rightly remembered to increase the salaries of senior superintendents.

While the former has been moved from level 12 to 13, the latter has climbed from 13 to level 14.

Implementation of the new structure started last December.

Assistant superintendents and superintendents interviewed here said they were shocked when pay-slips for the month of January 2002 showed that they were to receive their old salaries.

The revolution which was meant for Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi, the sector minister, was to be channelled through the Eastern Regional Minister's office, Chronicle was informed.

A check at Akyem Tafo, Suhum and other populous towns in the Eastern Region confirmed that affected teachers there were similarly aggrieved and gearing up for battle.