The leadership of the Teachers’ and Educational Workers’ Union (TEWU) have congratulated the Acting Director General (DG) of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr. Eric Nkansah, on his appointment.
The National President of TEWU, Mr. Ambrose Kwadjodza, who announced this on behalf of the leadership, also pledged to work with the new administration for the betterment of education in the country.
Mr. Ambrose Kwadjodza announced this on Friday when he led the leadership of TEWU to pay a courtesy call on the new DG at the Headquarters of the GES in Accra. The leadership of TEWU used the occasion to highlight a few of their pressing needs that require urgent action from the GES, and appealed to Dr. Nkansah to speedily address these challenges.
The Acting Director General commended TEWU for the visit and assured them of his commitment to facilitate and address the issues they discussed.
“I am here to work with all of you, and I can assure you that I will facilitate and advocate to ensure that all the challenges facing the various pre-tertiary schools are addressed,” he said.
Again, Dr. Nkansah assured them of his readiness to collaborate with all stakeholders in the education space towards the development of education, which serves as a catalyst for national development.
Other TEWU executives who accompanied the President were Mr. Charles Kofi Osei, Deputy General Secretary, Mr. Amaning Kwarteng, Association of Educational Accountants Executive Member and TEWU member among others.
Meanwhile, Sebastian R. Freiku reports from Ejisu-Ashanti that teachers from the basic school through pre-tertiary to tertiary in the Ashanti, Eastern, Central and parts of the Bono regions constituting themselves into a group have welcomed the appointment of Dr. Eric Nkansah as the new Director General for Ghana Education Service (GES).
Rev. Nicholas Adu-Bekoe of the Asanteman Senior High School and Spokesman of the group told newsmen on Saturday at Ejisu that the appointment was good news to the teaching fraternity, and expressed appreciation to the President for the move. The elated teachers hailed the new GES boss, stressing that “Dr. Nkansah is fit and can deliver.”
The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) have called on the President to rescind the decision to appoint Dr. Eric Nkansah, as the new Director General for Ghana Education Service.
NAGRAT claims that the appointee was unqualified, which position had been endorsed by Dr. Clement Apaak, Builsa South lawmaker and Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament.
The teachers unions say they want a Director General who is a professional teacher and has passed through the mill and could bring his knowledge, skills and influence to bear on the activities of teachers and non-teachers in the GES.
But Spokesman Rev. Adu-Bekoe says it is unfortunate for the leadership of the various teacher unions to have discredited and questioned the appointment of Dr. Nkansah on the grounds he is not a professional teacher and cannot champion the course and interest of teachers. He said one should not be teacher to execute his duty and perform as a Director-General which is purely administrative and a matter of competence.
The group are angered that the leaders had not consulted the membership of the teacher unions before stating their positions on the appointment of the new Director-General of the GES. Rev. Adu-Bekoe stated that the appointment of Dr. Nkansah is not out of place because he is capable of impacting his rich experience and therefore fully support the decision of the President to engage a person from the youthful bracket to lead the GES to seek the welfare
of teachers. The group urged the President to resource the new GES Director-General to deliver on his mandate to uplift the image of teachers.
By Felix Baidoo
