The teacher unions have also written to the Director General of GES about the matter
Government to pay Professional Development Allowance to teachers for 2021
Teachers raise alarm of some deductions made on GHC1,200 non-taxable allowance
GHC100 deducted from teachers’ allowance on behalf of National Teaching Council
Teacher association bodies in the country are up in arms against the Controller and Accountant General’s Department and the National Teaching Council.
According to the teacher unions, the Controller General has caused some illegal deductions on their Professional Development Allowance set to be paid at the end of the year.
Ahead of the payment, the teacher unions say payments prepared indicate that some amounts have been deducted from the GHC1,200 non-taxable allowance.
“As part of our condition of service, we negotiated for Professional Development Allowance for all teachers and as part of the agreement we were clear that it should not be taxed,” Deputy Communications Director of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers, Frank Gyekye told GhanaWeb in an interview.
“Last year it was paid, we saw some tax component on it, we argued over it and it was taken off. So I was surprised this year too they have repeated it again and teachers are not happy about it. The collective agreement stated clearly that Professional Development allowance is non-taxable and so as early as practicable we are asking the Controller and Accountant General to make sure that it is reversed,” he added.
Meanwhile, a group of teacher unions made up of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana (CCT GH) have written a joint statement to the Director General of the Ghana Education Service about the deduction of some GHC100 from their allowance.
According to the teacher unions, the amount deducted on behalf of the National Teaching Council for Teaching License Fee payment was deducted last year and must not be taken out of the allowance this year too.
According to the unions, the continuous deduction of the fee which is supposed to be paid once every three years is “arbitrary, distasteful, and an unfair labour practice” and therefore, they are calling for its “immediate cessation, and reimbursement of all teachers who have suffered it”.
“We call on you to act with dispatch to ensure that the said deductions do not appear on the November, 2021 pay-slip to avert any instability on the education front,” the joint statement added.