110 Headteachers Sue GES – Case adjourned

110 Headteachers sue GES for failing to hear their side of the story as would be the case in natural justice. According to the headteachers, the GES failed to treat them fairly per the requirements of the labour law.

To seek the right remedy and get the court to compel the GES to reinstatement the 110 head teachers who are now in classroom as class teachers, sued the GES at an Accra High court.

Related story : 110 Headteachers demoted to Class Teachers – GES

The complaint by 110 public primary school headteachers expelled from the Ghana Education Service (GES) has however been delayed by the High Court in Accra.

The GES employees who at the time of their suspensions were head teachers posted within the municipalities of Ga West and the north of the Greater Accra area were removed from their post for charging and collecting unapproved exams fees.

The teachers argued in their suit in court that their removal by GES was wrong because it was done without hearing them. They prayed for the reinstatement by the court.

110 Headteachers sue GES to protect their rights, jobs, position and to ensure, those in authority who have the power to enforce the labour related laws act within the ambit of the labour law and in accordance with it in a fair manner.

The case was postponed by the court until 26 November 2019. The head teachers had reportedly failed to follow directives from the GES regarding printing fees for their third examination in accordance with instructions issued by the Ghana Education Service.

In support of the action taken by head teachers, Richard Kwashie Kovey, the Zonal President of the National Association of Graduate teachers (NAGRAT), said that head teachers had to take the decisions because the funding was late.

The head teachers described  as unfair the punishment of the service because they have been demoted to go and teach.

Mr. Richard Kwashie Kovey added that “We are looking at 110 headteachers. For most of them, what we have heard is that they are being sent to teach in Kindergarten. If you send someone who is a maths or social studies teacher to kindergarten, you can imagine what will happen to those 4-year-old KG students.”

The Ghana Education Service warned head teachers not to compel parents to pay any form of unapproved fees however the question on the lips of many is that must head teachers suffer for governments delay in funding examinations for which they they took the initiative.

Teachers were after this occurrence asked to write end of term exams questions on the chalk board and this become a trending story in Ghana.

A later directive by the Ghana Education Service that heads of government managed primary schools should contact local printers for credit review papers as they wait until the Based Grant (Ghc5.00 per head) is released to settle the debt did not go down well as well.