Teacher Union demonstrate today

A teacher union, known as All Teachers Alliance Ghana (ATAG) is set to embark on a demonstration today, Wednesday, December 15, 2021.

The protest, according to the group, is to drum home their displeasure over government’s decision to deduct an amount of GH¢509 from the teachers’ professional development allowance as payment for the one-teacher, one laptop policy.

According to the Union, the deduction was unlawful, adding that, the laptops are less quality and not fit for purpose as should be used by teachers.

Chairman of the group, Isaac Ofori in an interview on Joy News said, “the manner in which the deduction was done was not right. Why do you deduct our money before you distribute something to us? If government wants to engage into laptop distribution, they should do it right. The quality of the laptops are not fit for purpose, it falls below the standard some of us professional teachers should be using.”

He added, “the GES boss does not have what it takes to vow for the quality of the laptops because he’s not using some. We’ve seen complains all over the country concerning those who have received theirs. Are all of them lying? We’ve served them notice; we are hitting the street to demonstrate over the low standard laptops they’ve distributed to us.”

Mr Amoah who believed that teachers have been persistently disrespected, stressed that this time around, they will not look on, unconcerned but will protest until their grievances are addressed.

The initiative launched by Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in September this year, seeks to equip teachers with the requisite ICT skills to facilitate lesson planning, teaching and learning outcomes.

Under the initiative, every teacher in a public school — from kindergarten (KG) to senior high — would receive a laptop computer.

The government will pay 70 per cent of the cost of the laptop, with the teachers paying the rest, which will be deducted from their salaries monthly.

Other concerns

Other concerns raised by the teachers included the lack of adequate engagement of private school teachers on the new educational curriculum.

Another teachers group by name, Innovative Teachers also want government to order the company contracted to produce the laptops to stop production immediately, saying if government is desirous of providing teachers with laptops, it must be given free of charge and be of notable quality.

In a statement, the group said, “it is instructive to note that the relationship that exist between teachers as employees and Ghana Education Service as the employer is regulated by law. The Labour Law section 9(a) specifically tasks the employer (GES) to provide the machinery, equipment and tools needed by the employees (teachers) to work. It is the responsibility of Ghana Education Service to tool teachers to work. This cost sharing idea of tooling teachers under the cloak of ‘personal assets’ is alien to the Labour Law (Act 651).

Meanwhile, the Education Minister, Dr Yaw Adutwum has been hauled before Parliament over the initiative which has triggered division and agitation amongst teacher unions.

Deputy Ranking on the Education Committee, Dr Clement Apaak, who has filed a question for the minister to answer, alleges the selection process in the award of the contract is fraught with corruption, arguing the company selected in the procurement and distribution of the laptops has no track record and was only registered this year.

“If you look at what we are witnessing, regarding the complaints that aggrieved teachers have brought forward and you look at the discourse and information available so far, you realise they have every reason to be dissatisfied with the current arrangements, and once the beneficiaries have an issue with the benefit, that presupposes that there’s a problem,” he said in an interview with JoyNews’ Kwesi Parker-Wilson.

“First of all, when the Vice President launched this initiative, some of us were on record to have indicated that the issues surrounding how the initiative came to be, the company, and all of that created something that one would consider as fishy and that is why I’ve filed a question to Parliament,” he added.