The striking teacher unions have rejected pleas to return to the classroom, stating that they will continue their industrial action until the government takes meaningful steps to fulfill their demands.
The decision comes after the unions met with Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu, who urged them to end the boycott and resume classes while promising to address their issues.
The unions in question are the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG), the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), and the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT).
They are requesting advancement in talks over their terms of employment as well as the settlement of unpaid promotion arrears.
Isaac Baah, Head of Salaries, Grievances and Negotiations at GNAT, told the media following the meeting that the unions were no longer ready to depend on promises from the government.
“Indeed, we met the minister and his team this afternoon with regard to our strike action. It has been the old story of promises upon promises,” he said.
“At the moment, we are not taking promises. We want action.”
Baah said teachers would remain at home until they saw evidence that the government had implemented commitments made to resolve their concerns.
“Our teachers must continue to stay home until we see something concrete,” he said.
He said the unions expected the outstanding salaries and arrears to reflect on teachers’ payslips and be credited to their accounts before they would consider returning to school.
“Until we see the salary and the arrears reflecting on our payslips and credited to our accounts, until we see that, we are not going back to school,” Baah said.
Source:Mybrytfmonline.com
