THE Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) of the TUC has expressed concern about the appointment of persons who are due for retirement as Director-Generals of the Ghana Education Service (GES). It said due to the short time such persons stay in office, they are unable to draw up comprehensive programmes to resolve the numerous problems confronting workers of the service and noted that such practices also impact negatively on the development of education in the country.
Addressing a news conference in Accra yesterday, Mr Daniel Ayim Antwi, the General Secretary of TEWU, said it will be in the interest of the country if people appointed to such positions are made to stay for not less than five years in office to enable them to plan and implement policies to develop the sector.He said out of about 13 Directors-General the GES has had since it was established, it is only on one occasion that a Director-General served for five years.
Mr Antwi mentioned the newly-appointed Director-General, Reverend Afo Blay who has only two years to go on retirement as an example and wondered what she will be able to do for the service considering the short period she has to serve.He said “management of GES has over the years treated the genuine grievances of the employees with careless abandon” and called on the management of the GES to take immediate steps to correct all the anomalies and distortions in the salaries of its members.
He also requested the GES to change what it termed its uncooperative attitude towards the union which has caused frustration among the members.Mr Antwi said the implementation of the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS) in 1999 brought about distortions and disparities in the salary structure of the personnel of the GES and particularly to the disadvantage of the non-teaching staff.
Mr Antwi, who was supported by regional executives of the union and the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Mr Kwasi Adu-Amankwah said “this precarious situation prompted the formation of a Standing Joint Committee to request the appellate body of the GUSS to rectify the anomalies.He said although the distortions were rectified and the arrears paid, the Controller and Accountant General's Department left out 140 grades with the excuse that those grades were not listed among the ones approved by the Ministry of Finance.
The TEWU General Secretary said this has led to a situation where those in lower grades receive salaries higher than those in the higher grades.Another area of concern to the union, Mr Antwi said, is the refusal of the GES to negotiate the Collective Bargaining Agreement proposals in respect of the conditions of service of its members.
He said although management acknowledged receipt of the union’s proposal, management has for 12 months not made it possible for negotiations to commence.Mr Antwi said the union has given the GES up to the end of this month to resolve the problems of its members or the members will advise themselves.
