A Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament has criticised the government over its approach to addressing the concerns of teachers.
The MP for Builsa South asked the government to treat the teachers with respect and address their grievances in order to prevent actions that could affect the quality of teaching and learning in our pre-tertiary schools.
He was responding to concerns raised by the three pre-tertiary teacher unions: the Ghana National Association of Teachers, the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT), and the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT).
The three unions recently suspended their strike action with the hope of going back to the negotiation table.
However, the unions have expressed the highest level of disappointment at the lacklustre attitude of the government towards the negotiations with regards to the conditions of service of the Ghanaian teacher since the strike was called off.
According to the unions, the negotiations have not achieved any meaningful outcome.
It is their argument that the government team does not seem to have the requisite mandate to respond adequately to our demands.
The statement cautioned Ghanaians and other stakeholders not to blame them for resuming the strike action.
Dr. Apaak, in responding, took the government to the cleaners, questioning why the government sends people who have no mandate to engage with the teachers and also addressing their concerns.
He said the government did the same thing to the University Teacher Association when they also went on strike last year.
He has therefore stressed the need for the government to treat the concerns of the teachers with some level of respect and urgency to ensure that they do not embark on a strike again.
“The Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP gov’t must show some respect to teachers. Why would gov’t send persons with no mandate to address the demands of the teachers to negotiation meetings? Tertiary Teacher Unions such as UTAG complained about the same attitude the Pre-tertiary Teacher Unions are complaining about last year.”
Source: rainbowradiooline.com
