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Even though government has still not paid the rest of the nearly Ghc16 million it owes members of three teacher unions, they have decided to hold on to a planned strike scheduled for tomorrow [Monday] February 29.
The unions, who have been demanding unpaid salary arrears and allowances suspended the strike until further notice, after a meeting with government today [Sunday].
The decision they say, is to allow the Controller and Account General’s Department, CAGD and the Audit Department, to validate documents submitted for the payment of the over two years’ salary arrears, and some allowances also in arrears.
The teachers’ conviction was boosted by evidence that the validation of documents is ongoing to ensure that they are paid in due time.
Validation ongoing
The teachers were paid a little over 1.5 million Ghana Cedis after a meeting with government last week, as part payment of the about 16 million Ghana Cedis owed them in for vehicle allowance.
Meanwhile the Employment and Labour Relations Minister, Haruna Iddrisu has reiterated government’s commitment to pay the teachers their due, to avert a disruption of academic work at the basic and second cycle schools.
Background
The various teacher unions; the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) are demanding the payment of their salary arrears by February 29, or they will embark on a strike.
Accusations and counter accusations
The Ghana Education Service (GES) had accused some of the teachers of faking their documents hence delaying the payments.
According to the GES, out of 14,575 input forms that were initially submitted by teachers for processing and payment, only 6,268 were found to be attached with genuine supporting documents.
The teacher unions responded by saying they are not to blame if some of the teachers have fake certificates and that the GES, which recruits teachers, should be blamed.
Some even called for the Director General Jacob Kor to be arrested for supervising the recruitment of these teachers.
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By: Kojo Agyemang/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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