Four Teacher Unions in the Bono East, Bono and Ahafo region have called on Parliament to suspend the Pre-tertiary education bill which has been laid before the house.
According to the Chairman for Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regional Chapter of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, Mr. Michael Nsiah Agyapong, the leadership of Teacher Unions should have been consulted extensively before the bill was laid before parliament. Mr. Nsiah spoke to Radio Ghana at a meeting in Sunyani to discuss the Pre-Tertiary Education Bill.
The Pre-Tertiary Education Bill has become topical with Teachers in the country calling for its withdrawal from the Parliament. The Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Teachers Unions are the latest to add their voices to calls for the suspension of the bill.
The Unions include the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT)-Ghana.
Among others, the Pre-Tertiary Education Bill seeks to place, Senior High Schools under the management of Regional Coordinating Councils, Basic Schools under the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies and Technical and Vocational Institutions will be supervised by a separate Director-General independent of the Ghana Education Service.
In an interview with Radio Ghana, after a meeting on the Bill in Sunyani, the Chairman of the Union, Mr. Michael Nsiah Agyapong said there are some aspects of the Bill which will destabilise the teaching profession. He said if the bill is politicised, there would be no job security for teachers.
Mr. Nsiah said the leadership of all the teacher unions in the country should have been consulted before the bill was laid before parliament.
Mr Michael Nsiah Agyapong stressed that the bill will corrupt the education system with unnecessarily partisan politics.
He expressed worry that, in spite of teachers being the fulcrum around which Education policies evolve, they were left out in drafting the bill.
Story filed by Daniel Donkor.
