The National Labour Commission (NLC) has addressed three out of nine demands of the three striking teacher unions – Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana (CCT Ghana).
The three demands are the provision of laptops to the teachers by the end of June, a scheme of service to be made available to the teachers’ unions in April, and teachers whose money had been blocked by the Office of the Special Prosecutor to be investigated and released within one month.
The rest of the six demands by the unions would be discussed at a meeting at the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations at 1400 hours on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.
The remaining six demands are Continuous Professional Development Allowance, Deprived Area Allowance, Rent Allowance, Transport Allowance, Utility Subsidy Allowance, and Teaching Assessment Allowance.
Mr King Ali Awudu, President of CCT Ghana, said this to the Ghana News Agency after their meeting with the NLC in Accra.
He said they were hoping that the next engagement at the Employment Ministry would be fruitful and all their demands would be met.
Mr Awudu, however, said they would have to consult their members and use their internal procedures to decide whether to call off the strike.
Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister of Education, said the Government was committed to the welfare of teachers, adding that they would continue to engage them to ensure their demands were met.
“I am happy the negotiation process is going on smoothly. We will continue to engage the teachers to meet their demands,” he stressed.
The three teacher unions declared nationwide industrial action on March 20, 2024 over conditions of service.
They said their action was due to the Government’s inability to complete the distribution of laptops to all teachers, the rampant changes in the school calendar without recourse to negotiation with them and the blockage of their salaries by the Office of Special Prosecutor.
“In the light of the above circumstances and given the delays and unfulfilled promises we, the Pre-tertiary Teacher Unions do hereby declare a nationwide strike effective today, Wednesday, March 20, 2024, to press home our demands,” they said.
Source: GNA
