Striking teachers still absent in schools in Kumasi

Majority of striking teachers in most basic and senior high schools in the Kumasi Metropolis, have not yet resumed work despite the National Labour Commission’s (NLC) directive to the three striking teacher unions to call off the action with immediate effect.

The Unions – Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT), last Friday declared a nationwide strike to back their demand for the payment of what it termed legacy arrears, owed to its members by the government.

The areas covering salaries and allowances, according to the unions had not been paid since 2012 to 2016, regardless of efforts to prevail on government to effect the payment.

The strike action started on Monday December 9, however, on Tuesday December 10, Mr Andy Kwabena Asamoah, the National Chairman of the NLC, described the ongoing strike of the Unions as illegal and ordered the striking unions to call off the strike and instruct their members to go back to the classroom and teach.

This was after a meeting between the NLC, representatives of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Ministry of Education (MOE), the Fair Wages and Salary Commission (FWSC),

A visit by the Ghana News Agency team to some basic and senior high schools Kumasi, revealed that a few of the teachers were present at school, but were not teaching, while a good number did not show up at all.

A handful of the pupils were in the classroom learning on their own.

In most of the schools visited, the pupils did not also show up in school at all.

However, a few Junior High Schools (JHS) teachers were seen teaching the final year students because of the impending Basic School Certificate Examination (BECE).

A teacher of the one the schools, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency on condition of anonymity, explained that most of his colleagues are reluctant to resume teaching because they had not heard anything from their union leaders.