Teacher unions in pre-tertiary education in the Volta region have staged a peaceful demonstration in demand of better conditions of service in Ho, the regional capital.
About 800 teachers, made up of members from the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers of Ghana (CCT-GH) took part in the demonstration.
They walked through the principal streets of Ho, as they sang patriotic songs and danced to local Borborbor and brass band music.
They also carried placards, some of which read: ‘Let teachers enjoy the benefit of their labour’, ‘Don’t treat us like animals’, ‘We deserve better condition of service’, ‘Pay us clothing allowance’, ‘We want our reward on earth’, ‘Teachers are not beggars’, and ‘We deserve our pound of flesh and not only the politicians,’ among others.
The demonstrators finally converged at the forecourt of the Volta Regional Coordinating Council (VRCC), where a petition was presented to the Regional Coordinating Director, Mr Augustus Awity, as the Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa, was not present.
The absence of the Regional Minister infuriated the demonstrators, who shouted “We want to see the minister, no minister no handing over of petition”.
The Volta Regional Secretary of GNAT, Mr Kassim Seidu Baba, who read the petition said government had taken teachers for granted for far too long because since negotiation in 2009 and after the 2020 Collective Agreement, the unions had known no peace. This is due to the government’s failure to implement the 15 allowances agreed upon, as well as fulfilling promises made to the teachers.
He mentioned four of the allowances as the Deprived Area Allowance, the Extra Assessment Allowance, the Book, Data, Online Teaching support allowance and the upward adjustment of the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) allowance.
Mr Baba said despite the gesture of good faith from the teacher unions, the government was still resolute and had demonstrated bad faith, culminating in high level despondency and disaffection for leadership of the teacher unions.
He said the leaders could no longer afford the numerous complaints, coupled with the economic hardship in the country, saying the last 24 months was the most tortuous for the Ghanaian teacher, with no ray of relief initiated by the employer.
The teachers, therefore, called on the government to honour its promises and commitment to teachers by addressing their concerns adding that teachers had enough of the indifference, complacency and unfriendliness of the employer and would no longer countenance any disappointment.
Mr Baba, on behalf of the teacher unions, gave the government up to May 13, 2024 to address the concerns raised by teachers and that should they fail, the national leadership would be called to take action immediately, which would be detrimental to national development.
