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The Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES), have dismissed allegations that government has refused to settle outstanding arrears owed the various teacher unions.
The unions, made up of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Ghana National Association of Teachers, (GNAT), and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT), have threatened to lay down their tools by the end of February, if their concerns are not addressed.
They are demanding among others, the payment of arrears of the 2013 and 2014 batches of newly recruited teachers, as well as those on promotion and others who were reinstated or re-engaged.
But the Director General of the GES, Jacob Kow at a press conference in Accra on Friday, indicated that their intended strike is unjustified since government had been consistent with the payment of these arrears to the respective unions.
According to him, over GHC 1 million had so far been paid for vehicle maintenance allowance alone to deserving teachers.
Non payment of arrears
Mr. Kow further explained that salary arrears of some teachers belonging to the 2013/2014 batch of the newly recruited teachers, had not yet been paid because it was discovered that they were holding fake documents.
According to him, out of the 14,575 forms they received from the affected newly recruited teachers, 8,307 were found to have issues including the submission of fake documents.
“…It was detected that some teachers were holding fake documents including certificates to support their claims while others were not at post. This is confirmed by the fact that, out of the 14,575 input forms that were initially submitted for processing and payment, 6,268 were found to be genuine with all the supporting documents ,while the remaining 8,307 input forms were queried by the Audit Service on the grounds of non-inclusion of certificates, establishment warrant, assumption of duty letters and acceptance letters.”
He added that, “All these forms were therefore sent back to the district offices through the regional education offices of the Ghana Education Service. In the meantime, all the 6,268 teachers whose claims were validated have since January 1, 2016, been duly paid. It is therefore not true that no arrears have been paid as the public is made to believe.”
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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah
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