Legitimize New Collective Agreement by December 31 – GNAT to GES

Legitimize New Collective Agreement by December 31 is one of the big issues that, GNAT has spoken about at the last Annual Council Meeting at the GNAT Village.

The Ghana National Teachers ‘ Association (GNAT) has called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) to see to it that a new collective bargaining agreement for its employees is reached by 31 December 2019, approved and signed by all involved parties, to legitimize it, to replace the existing one that expired in 2011.

The directive was contained in a communication by the Ghana National Teachers Association (GNAT) National Council through its Annual Council Meeting at the GNAT Village, Abankro, near Ejisu in the Ashanti region.

The meeting took place from the 19th and the 21st of November 2019 and served as an avenue to discuss critical problems.

The association was clear that the (GES) must ensure that, by 31 December 2019, a fresh collective agreement for its staff is negotiated, consented upon and signed by all parties concerned, legitimized and replaced by the outdated collective agreement which has expired since 2011.

Apart from the call on GES to legitimize new collective agreement by December 31, 2019, some of the other critical issues discussed included :

Teacher Licensing

GNAT claimed that the National Teaching Council (National Teaching Council) was to involve the wider stakeholders in the matter of the fee that teachers would pay for their licenses, in relation to licensing for practitioner teachers.

New Standard-based Curriculum

GNAT said that the Ghana Education Service should start organizing more teacher training courses to ensure its successful implementation when it discusses the implementation of the new standard curriculum and its impact on teaching and learning results.

GES / SIC Group Insurance Policy

GNAT claimed that GES / SIC deductions will stop immediately when it is identified as’ forced’ introduction of the insurance policies of the GES / SIC Group for Ghana Education Service employees.

GES Promotions

The Council indicated that a specific modality to enforce the suggested aptitude test for the promotion of staff members should be explored by the Ghana Education Service (GHS).

It also indicated that the GES needs to speed up progress in the 2019 Promotional interviewing to prevent teachers who wait to be interviewed from increasing as a result of delays.

Transfer Grant for Teachers

GNAT argued and requested that GES should scrap 50 or more kilometers of distance as a condition for paying the transferring grants with regard to issues related to the conditions preceding the transfer payment (50 kilometers and higher).

The Ghana National Association of Teachers defended its justification for the call and stressed that each transfer would cost money.

Payment of unrealistic wages and salaries

Unrealistic pay of wages and benefits by the government according to GNAT needs to be reviewed.

The association claimed that the government, through the Ghana Education Services (GES), is expected to pay reasonable salaries to teachers and other Ghana Education Service workers through the Ghana Education Service (GES).