Strike.

Teachers’ strike

Since Monday 13^th March all teachers in the government schools belonging to the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the sister NAGRAT (National Association of Graduate Teachers) have been on indefinite strike

The timing of the strike- over a long running dispute concerning the non-negotiation of new pay proposals by the government, a freeze on increments since 2010 and other delays in payments- was deliberate, coinciding with the public exam period, when Junior High School pupils, at the end of 9 or more years of education take their Basic Education Certificate Exam (BECE), (success securing a place at Senior High School) while the Senior High School (SHS)students take the West African Secondary School Certificate Exam (WASSCE). (The WASSCE- a commonly managed exam across the Anglophone countries of West Africa is taken prior to higher or tertiary education application.) SHS head teachers have drafted in cooks and janitors to invigilate the WASSCE exams to avoid disrupting the schedule for students.

After two days, TEWU- the Teachers and Education Workers Union- representing administrative and support staff joined the dispute. All government schools across the country either closed or were barely functioning.

In a non-scientific, extremely partial straw poll of opinions, I spoke with some teachers I have been working with in Zebilla, to gain some understanding of the issues.

Pay continues to be a key issue- the much quoted “Our take home pay doesn’t take us home,” recurring. There are references to the low status of teachers, of the job being the last choice, not the first, for capable secondary high school and university graduates.  There are comparisons with health workers, nurses etc- also not highly paid, but with better pay, and in recent years improved working conditions which saw a surge in applicants for Nursing College places among young students. I was told teachers are paid a small “retention increment” while health staff are paid a higher “management premium.” While qualified teachers receive a salary, schools in the poorer north are largely staffed by unqualified Youth Employment Teachers, Pupil Teachers and Volunteer teachers, who are supposed to receive a regular small allowance for their services. One young Youth Employment teacher in Zebilla said there had been no money for a whole year. Newly qualified teachers with a Diploma in Basic Education “have not been placed on their correct salary scale… for almost a year.”

Underlying pay  and  poor conditions of service:- which for teachers in northern Primary classes can mean pupil numbers up to 100, a classroom with no furniture and few books or other resources, kindergarten classes taught under a tree;-low teacher morale is driving the resolve to support the strike. Teaching is regularly viewed as a “stepping stone” into another better paid, better respected profession.  Of the 10,000 who leave teaching annually, a third moves to the financial sector. And as only 9,000 teachers are trained each year, the current shortfall in teacher numbers, around 80,000 according to GNAT figures, will not be rectified.

After a week union leaders met with President John Mahama, discussed their grievances and as assurances were given, recommended to the area representatives that the strike action be suspended. Schools  began returning to normal activity by Wednesday 27^th March.

The GNAT President, Solomon Doe Alodia told Citi News, “we have presented four main issues to government and as we speak now three of those issues are being addressed seriously. The only one that was not addressed we are supposed to meet the Fair Wages and Salary commission and begin negotiations.”

“Apart from that we have received two thirds of what we presented and we are grateful. If our concerns are not addressed on time we will revert our course,”