Ministry of education says it has little to do to get striking teachers back to classroom

 The Ministry of Education has said that it can do very little to get striking teachers back into the classrooms especially when the Finance Ministry has not released their allowances which have been in arrears for months. The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) and the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) announced an indefinite strike yesterday which starts from today. The declaration of their strike is to protest the non-payment of their three-month salary arrears, transfer grants and vehicle maintenance allowances. Speaking to Citi News, the Head of Public Relations at the Education Ministry, Paul Krampah said the decision by the three unions to embark on a separate strike was surprising, especially when their issues are currently being addressed. Mr. Krampah added that “the Ministry of Education does not pay salaries of workers, neither does it pay the allowances of teachers. He explained that the ministry only facilitate whatever is due teachers and that is exactly what they have been doing. Meanwhile, Labour analyst Austin Gamey has criticized the strike by the teacher unions saying it could adversely affect students. The teachers are already part of an ongoing labour strike, fighting for the release of their tier two pension funds, a move that has been backed by IMANI and the Trades Union Congress (TUC). The government has criticized the strike, describing it as unlawful and unnecessary and forced government to resort to the court to “seek interpretation” of the Pensions Act.

Source:Citifmonline.com