Public Agenda (Accra)
Ebenezer Nana Wilson
29 June 2009
opinion
Accra — The Ghana Education Service, GES, undoubtedly can boast of the most qualified and versatile personnel in Ghana; however the manner in which the GES treats these personnel, especially those posted to teach leaves much to be desired.
This mistreatment that teachers suffer from the hands of their employer, the GES, over the years, has contributed in part to the low morale among their rank and file. However it is refreshing to note that the majority of teachers continue to give off their best, even in the face of the frustrations they go through daily to train and nurture the nation's human resource.
It is against this background that the Silent Observer has deemed it imperative to draw the attention of the Minister of Education and the GES to some practices, which when not checked will weaken further the resolve of teachers in the performance of their duties.
Available statistics from the district offices of the GES indicate that only a fraction of teachers who applied for promotion in the 2008/2009 school year have received promotion interview letters.
The whole promotion interview short-listing procedure becomes more interesting, considering the fact that the applicants have similar and in some cases the same characteristics.
One therefore wonders which criteria the GES Council Secretariat used to short-list teachers for the promotion interview. Could it be that the GES Council used random sampling to do the short-listing instead of merit; or could it be that there were elements of nepotism and xenophobia on the part of those who came out with the short-list? Any how one looks at it, surely the GES did not do its work with dispatch and diligence.
Another matter of concern comes to light with a visit to the I.P.P.D section at the GES Head office and the Controller and Accountant General's Department both in Accra. In those offices a disturbing picture is painted, hundreds, if not thousands, of teachers throng those offices to have their documents processed to enable them enjoy their hard earned salaries.
The questions that readily comes to mind is, why should it take a teacher to leave the classroom and submit documents in order to ensure that payment of his/her earned salary arrears (back pay) is effected? And why should it take a teacher to ensure that his/her name which has inadvertently gone off the pay-roll is restored? By so doing, the teacher performs the duties of schedule officers in the district and regional offices of the GES and school administrations.
A respective view of the 2006/2007 academic year confirms the inefficiencies and laxity to duty by officers of the GES in the central region. In that academic year, some district best teachers through no fault of theirs did not get the opportunity to compete at the regional award. This is because before the regional interview team could get to the Assin District, the national best teacher taken place. There were occasions when some district offices of the GES failed to organize the best teacher awards competition, a process, which could qualify the teachers in those districts to compete in the regional event and subsequently compete for the national best teacher award.
How about teachers in the basic and second cycle schools who receive their salaries several months after recruitment into the GES? As for the plight of non-professional (Pupil) teachers at the basic schools, the least said about it the better. For instance, pupil teachers who were recruited at the beginning of the 2008/2009 academic year are yet to be paid their monthly wages, although they still remain at post. This is nothing but injustice and as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr. puts it "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere".
It would be recalled that in 2006 as a result of agitations by the National Association of Graduate Teachers, NAGRAT, teachers recruited in September, 2003 were paid their salary arrears. Although the GES deducted the Social Security Fund Component from salary arrears, the money is yet to be paid into the contributions account of the teachers concerned. This matter should be investigated and those found culpable prosecuted.
It appears that personnel at the I.P.P.D section of the GES and those at the Controller and Accountant General's Department are in a dilemma. Otherwise how come that two teachers with the same qualification who were recruited in the same month and year have different grades and hence being paid different salaries. Investigations carried out by yours truly indicate that this is not a one off incidence; it is a growing trend which is wide spread. And the GES and Controller and Accountant General's Department seem to be helpless in rectifying the anomaly.
Could it be that the problems facing the GES that have created the status quo is lack of logistics, or institutional failure or sheer dereliction of duty? The GES is better placed to appreciate the fact that the majority of teachers still continue to live in dire circumstances, especially those in deprived areas; and hence any unfair treatment they suffer will dampen their spirit and negatively impact on their performance in the classroom.
The GES must therefore wake up and live up to its responsibilities and discharge its duties with alacrity.
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Indeed, GES administration has become a night mere to many teachers.
The sum of my comment is that GES is pretending to treat teachers well and teachers are also pretending to teach well. The end result is that the quality of education deteriorates.
For instance, some teachers in the Northern region have been to the regional office to find out why their colleagues have received interview letters for promotion and they have not. They were simply referred to Accra, that their names had not come from there. While in Accra they were told that for principal superindent promotion, there is… [Read Full Text]