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Attention every teacher who is reading this article or message. It is very important that we help educate ourselves on what is meant by teacher unionism and promotion of teachers’ welfare. We live in a country where teacher unions are known for taking dues and provident funds. Over the years the provident funds (what we mostly called mutual fund) has become a source of relief for many teachers as they can easily access quite a lower interest rate loans as compared to other financial institutions.

Among all the government workers in Ghana, teachers seem to be the target of loans from many financial institutions. Despite the teacher unions helping to support teachers in accessing lower interest loans, there is still a bigger gap of insufficiency. The level of welfare that should be attached to ‘mutual’ funds is lacking in almost all the existing unions.

The All Teachers Alliance Ghana (ATAG) has taken a step further to bridge this gap of insufficiency in promoting the true welfare of teachers. ATAG believes that since the association is registered as a welfare organization, the onus is on them to ensure that teachers’ welfare is promoted to the highest degree. The only argument we mostly hear from the other unions is that the mutual funds will be used to generate investment and profit, so that on pension, it can be released to you for support. Though we think it is a good idea on its own, we strongly believe it is insufficient in all manner of fairness. Fortunately for us SSNIT had restructured our pension scheme into Tier I and II (Tier III being optional). So we have enough pension schemes to cater for our future. What is most important is how we can make ends meet whilst in active service: put up decent houses, give our children a better and quality education, drive in a good cars, live decent and resourceful life and make meaningful investment.

So technically, welfare associations should not be focused on the pension needs of their members. They should rather be thinking about making life easy and comfortable for their members whilst in active service. They ensure that members make ends meet whilst in active service such as supporting them to achieve their aspirations and plans in life even before they retire from active service.

For this reason, the All Teachers Alliance Ghana (ATAG), established in 2016 and started operation in 2018 and fully recommended by GES and on the controller TPRS, had decided to give welfare its true meaning to the 21st century teacher. What is ATAG saying? Simply, what ATAG is saying is that in the next 10 to 20 years, any teacher who goes on pension cannot do anything meaningful with any amount between the ranges of GH¢20,000 – ¢35,000. Besides, our contributions to the provident funds (mutual fund) cannot accumulate an interest for it to hit that amount range. So therefore, monies contributed to the provident funds must serve as a conduit of cooperative activities rather than pension.

ATAG has taken a bold step to invest in the welfare of its members. The first point of call is to make loans affordable as much as possible. ATAG believes that with membership of only 10,000, the alliance can give effective and reliable loans to its members at 5% annual and up to only 16% in 36 months. This is to ensure that members get access to cheap, affordable and rely loans to execute their plans without having incurred losses or debt in the process. ATAG is willing to do this to ensure that no member is laden with unbearable loan throughout his active service even before he or she goes on pension.
Again, ATAG is willing to make the hire purchase a reality for members. No member will have to buy 32 inch television for more than GH¢2000 in the name of welfare. That is not true welfare. We allow our members to buy items at a market price and the association pays. ATAG will then deduct the amount without interest.

We know many teachers will begin to question the feasibility and credibility of this decision. But before I allay their fears, I want them to reflect on the recent reduction in loan interest by some teacher unions. The truth is that teacher unions have nothing to lose even at 1% interest rate for their members because they are welfare associations and not financial institutions. So, if ATAG says it is ready to reduce its interest rate to the lowest, you must understand it is possible. Currently, even without membership of 10,000, ATAG is giving loans at 8% and it is willing to bring it to 5% when its membership increases considerably.

What about our pension needs? Does ATAG not think about it? We are concerned about the pension need of our members but our policy is solely driven around seeking the total welfare of our members. Our pool of the provident funds will be used to cater for the true welfare of our members through affordable loans and other affordable avenues the Alliance will create its members. ATAG believes that at pension, your provident funds shall be returned to you as a form of compensation but not as pension remuneration (at this time you might not need to undertake any form of major project or plan).

The future is now and we admonish teachers across the country to join us to make this vision work. Visit www.gogpayslip.com and become part of teachers who believe in true welfare of teachers. Join the ALL TEACHERS ALLIANCE GHANA now and enjoy amazing packages of teacher welfare.

ATAG is inviting teachers who are willing to work to promote the growth of the Alliance in the various districts and MMDAs to contact its regional executives for further discussions and direction.

Central Region
054 392 7171

Western Region
054 648 2614

Eastern Region
024 560 4986

Brong Ahafo
024 584 3157

Volta Region
054 101 8280

Northern Region
0209654531

Upper East
024 839 2252

Upper West
054 804 4639

Ashanti Region
024 314 1276

Greater Accra
0241871847

Thanks

General Secretary
ATAG HQT
atag.gh@gmail.com
0302907561

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Following the implementation of the government Free SHS policy, many other policies on education have sprung up.

Though these policies had come amidst protest and reservations, educational actors had kept mute about them.

The notable among them are the teacher licensing, compulsory NSS for newly trained teachers, the track systems and just recently the government intends to turn colleges into a degree awarding universities.

We want to commend the government for the political will to take education to the next level, notwithstanding, some of these policies had turned out to be unfavourable and rushed through though given time and space could have been implemented to achieve same and better results.

The government in collaboration with NTC agreed with other stakeholders that teachers had to undergo licensing before being posted or employed. Though this did not go down well with many trainees, the licensing exams were written by over 20,000 potential teachers. It, however, turned out that the original plan of having teachers posted after licensing was shot down after the ministry of education urged newly trained teachers to take to National Service.

We found unfolding events to be bizarre in the face of growing want for teachers in the educational front. Although the government claims that financial clearance had been sought to absorb these teachers after their service, no proper documents covering the move had been agreed on by stakeholders.

Besides, compulsory NSS is not an alternative in terms of teacher employment in the country for newly trained teachers. These are professionals who have been bred purposely for the job, and it becomes worrying for government to put them in such an uncertain employment procedure. Ghana is yet to meet the UNESCO teacher to students ratio standard, and this is certainly not good.

The track system of education is yet another policy that seems to lack proper tenet of implementation. Though the government promised of closing the teaching gap with 9000 teachers to mitigate the possible challenges, the move is yet to see fruition. We know only NABCO teachers had been posted and didn’t know exactly when the double track teachers will start their job.

It’s also, however, not clear how the government intend to keep the academic calendar running smoothly in the double track schools. Already, the sports calendar of second cycle schools had been disrupted tremendously knowing very well the role sports play at the SHS level.

We don’t even know exactly how the gold and green tracks will write their end of term exams. The single track is enjoying full and continuous tuition as against ‘tot-tot’ tuition in the double track schools. Teaching hours had been increased, and most schools are closing at 4.00pm. The pressure keeps mounting both on teachers and students every day putting the future of the track systems into uncertainties.

These educational revolutions, I will prefer to call, seem to benefit who or who is benefiting from it?

We found out that, apart from the partial engagement of various stakeholders, in many of these policies, the teacher is never at the centre of any of their implementation.

While a professional teacher with professional training is denied employment directly by GES, the field teachers are asked to work themselves out without corresponding remunerations or incentives.

These are teacher unfriendly policies which seek to posit the teacher as a tool in the hands of a craftsman who doesn’t know the use of it.

With the new track systems, most teachers, especially in the single track schools, will enjoy only one month vacation as against three months two weeks vacation of their other colleagues. This certainly sounds unfair since the government had not put in place any remuneration packages for this excruciating job schedule.

Time won’t permit me to outline the ever ending disadvantages that stare at the faces of desperate teachers in the midst of these revolutionary implementations.

So we ask: Did government actually taught of teaching as a noble profession before the implementation of these policies?

Well, the significant education actors are mute for fear of being tagged as shadow politicians. We have the conviction that the policy ‘implementation era’ might have been activated to achieve a political result rather than bettering the conditions of teachers and improving the standard of education.

The teacher must always be the reason — our profession our job our destiny.

By Isaac Ofori

All Teachers Alliance Ghana (ATAG)

atag.gh@gmail.com

www.allteachersalliance.org

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]By Isaac Ofori

In Canada, the basic salary scale and benefit package offered to a newly-hired teacher is established through negotiations between the teachers’ association and representatives of the provincial/territorial government.

Generally, teacher salary schedules are determined by a combination of years of post-secondary education and years of teaching experience.

Additional allowances are paid to teachers whose position will include additional administrative responsibilities.

Depending on the jurisdiction, an entry level salary can range from $36,305 to $58,980 annually, while the maximum salary level can range from $53,545 to $83,158 annually.

Teachers with advanced and graduate training can expect salaries that are higher than the maximum range.

Benefit Packages can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction but will include a combination of the following:

✍?Dental Insurance
✍?Life Insurance
✍?Maternity Leaves
✍?Compassionate
Leaves
✍?Cumulative Sick Leave
✍?Sabbatical and Study Leave
✍?Supplementary Medical Insurance
✍?Long-term Disability Insurance
✍?Retirement Gratuities

ATAG will demand on behalf of teachers what and what are entailed in:

“Salaries, fringe benefits and allowances, hours of work, contact hours, leave for union activities, class size and work load, Principles of engagement and termination of service including redundancy, probation, transfers, promotion and housing, sick leave with pay, training and retraining, medical schemes, study leave, release of employee.”

These benefits/conditions are embedded in the bargaining agreement reached between GNAT and GES on behalf of teachers.
ATAG will demand on behalf of teachers, why the benefits in the bargaining agreement is not working and if it is working why are teachers not benefiting as they should.

We know we are going to have difficult beginnings, but we will rely on the support of all teachers especially the youth to rally behind us in ensuring that fairness, equity, economic opportunities, career development and financial freedom prevail in the teaching profession.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]By Isaac Ofori

The question usually comes to mind whether managers of education system had failed in their role of promoting a holistic education or the sector ministry is over playing politics with one of the most sensitive areas of human resource development in the country.

It is mostly said that agriculture is the bedrock of our economy but this saying may be fading in the face of growing technological world. I will without equivocation say that Education is now the live wire of globalization and the grinding wheel of every growing economy.

Agriculture certainly drives on the wheels of Education before it can make any significant impact on the economy of every country.

It’s becoming increasingly obvious that education is being trodden upon either consciously or there is a missing link which is eluding the greatest policy makers of our time. There is no clear cut policy underpinning our educational system. Each change of government comes with another manipulation of the sector leaving it bleeding with little or no direction.

Few examples may serve your memory of what had gone down the drain in the name of politics.
1. The Middle School Leaving Certificate which was four years was changed to three years JHS (now barely two and half years)
2. The Five Year O Level Senior Secondary course was changed to Three Years Senior High School and later reduced to two and half years and later four years and now barely two and half years.
3. The two year A Level course has been scrapped.
It is again clear on the face of these policy changes that successive government had sought to some way manipulate education to some extent to win political capital.

In the run up to the 2012 and 2016 elections, education became another fertile ground for politicians to hatch a new policy agenda as usual to manipulate the sector and to make it more vulnerable.
Free SHS was hammered on several occasions and debated back and forth.
Finally, we have arrived here with its implementation. And it is clear that this policy is riding on the wings of political whims and caprices.
The questions comes to mind whether stakeholders of education were duly consulted or were made to make inputs to the new policy. That’s the missing link.

Teachers are always at the receiving end. They don’t have any say. They always swallow the bitter pill of political ideologies which may not suffice the realities of modern school system. These so called policies seem to isolate or eliminate teachers in terms of salary adjustment, allowances or other equally important incentives.

It is a fact that teachers do not matter when it comes to educational policies being swung by politicians. One may say without fear that teachers have been taken for granted in this country and are not treated with the expected honour they deserve.

The big picture now comes to the play when we begin to contemplate on the actual role GES is playing in the midst of all these brouhaha. GES is the education management unit in Ghana but it appears they are not managing anything. Their hands are tied to an invincible task master who seems to dictating their pace. Management is the act or skill of controlling and making decision about a business or a department. GES is supposed to have a direct control of the education system in Ghana because they manage virtually every aspect of it. It is unclear as to what is preventing them from executing their role as a management unit. The common view of every teacher about GES is about their specialization in witch hunting and frustrating teachers. Matters of core academic work is missing on their list.

One may want to spare GES and rather direct his gun at MOE which oversees the sector as a whole. Successive governments in this country have failed to properly meet the needs of Education and ensuring an enduring policy which will have direct and long lasting effect on the sector. We wake up every morning with new pipeline policies being sprung on us one by one. The latest is the closing time for basic schools. Highly inconsistent and incongruous because the basic needs of primary education in Ghana is yet to be met.
I may not hesitate to allege that GES is struggling to manage the sector well and have failed on countless times in ensuring that the blocks fit properly into their positions. Likewise, the political hierarchy of the sector ministry makes it weak and uncommitted to enrolling a lasting policy direction for the sector.
It’s therefore of no surprise that education in these modern times have recorded falling standards and continue to suffer more as a result of management failure and politically tainted sector.

It’s the responsibility of teacher unions now to lead the fight to ensuring sanity or reverse gear in the wayward direction of education in our country. If the government is failing to give it a proper direction, we the major stakeholders at the receiving end can resist any form of policy that seems to jeopardize the future of education. This should not be done with hollow rebuttals by unions leaders on radio and on TV, but through an empirical research to help shape the system.

We are in a country where teacher unions barely contribute to policy direction of the sector due to either their incompetence or mediocrity.
They are more specialized in managing teachers’ dues and doling out insatiable loans to them. They have failed to properly connect teachers to the management unit and the sector ministry.

The future generation cannot be left in limbo in what seems to be unstable education system which point to virtually no destination.
The real stakeholders have been relegated to the background leaving the politicians to craft a future of uncertainties. Gradually the firm foundation of education propagated by afore leaders is being shaken and if nothing urgent is done about it, it could lead to its collapse. We cannot afford to reach that dead end.

GES should bounce back to performing their traditional roles as management whereas the politicians should desist from excessive manipulation of the system to satisfy their want. Teacher unions must be a unique link and common mouth piece in policy making, implementation and direction.
Education will continue to remain the live wire and the engine of globalization and Ghana cannot afford to be disconnected.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]