The President of CCT, King Ali Awudu, who describes the government’s inaction as shameful has called for urgent measures to address the situation.

The Kaneshie-based SHS was on Monday night plunged into total darkness after it was disconnected from the power grid over GH₵480k owed the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

But Mr Awudu who has expressed his dismay with the development says it highlights the numerous challenges faced by SHSs.

In an interview with Adom News, he emphasised that if the government finds the reality of funding free SHS too high, it should allow parents to support in order to ensure uninterrupted power supply in schools.

The CCT President stressed that the current situation is causing significant hardship for schools and called on the government to take immediate action to resolve the issue.

He urged the Ministry of Education to prioritise the payment of electricity bills for SHS to avoid further disruptions to teaching and learning activities.

The CCT’s strong stance reflects the growing concern among educators and stakeholders about the impact of electricity disconnections on education in Ghana.

The government is under pressure to address the issue promptly to ensure that schools can function effectively and provide quality education to students.

Meanwhile, Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr Eric Nkansah says power has been restored to Accra Academy.

Dr. Nkansah explained that the Free SHS Secretariat, which is responsible for paying the electricity bills for all 704 secondary schools in Ghana, has been working with ECG and has paid all bills.

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Their call is in response to a directive to teachers in the area to return to school.

The Volta Regional Chairman of the Concerned Teachers, Solomon Takyi Kwame stressed the urgent need for government intervention during an interview with Adom News correspondent Odehyeba Owusu Job.

He said whiles government is insisting teachers return to their classrooms, there is a lack of support for those affected by the spillage.

Mr. Takyi Kwame said the teachers will not return to classroom if they are not provided with the needed relief items.

As an immediate measure, the Coalition of Concerned Teachers presented a cheque of GH¢20,000 to the affected members in the Volta Region.

The National Treasurer and Chairman of CCT Fund, John Okyere Darfour led the delegation to present the cheque.

He was supported by Deputy Communications Director, Frank Gyekye and Deputy General Secretary, Patrick Nii Sackey.

Mr. Darfour urged government to extend financial aid and relief items to the affected teachers.

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According to them, the proposed areas when given the desired attention will halt the frequent labour unrest in the country.

CCT, among other things, highlighted salary adjustment, an overhaul of the Single Spine Salary Structure, the semester system for the Junior High School level, NLC and matters arising, organisation of CPD and indiscipline in schools.

The President, King Ali Awudu, at a press conference said the union leaders are unable to hold the anger of workers any longer.

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Read CCT’s full statement below:

PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE COALITION OF CONCERNED TEACHERS GHANA AT ITS NATIONAL SECRETARIAT, ADDRESSED BY KING ALI AWUDU ON THE 16TH NOVEMBER, 2021.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the media and thank you for responding to our call.

The Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana (CCT GH) wishes to bring the following issues to the attention of the government as a matter of urgency to address them.

SALARY ADJUSTMENT
Though the Unions for the Public Sector Workers through the Public Services Joint Standing Negotiations Committee (PSJSNC) agreed on 4% and 7% base pay increment for 2021 and 2022 respectively, the economic situation in the country as of now has necessitated the call to take a second look at the Base Pay.

Since March this year, the conditions of our members (workers) and their purchasing power keep declining as a result of the difficult economic conditions in the country.

Prices of goods and services are soaring, thus making the 7% base pay increment for next year already moot.

In line with this, we call on the government to as a matter of urgency, invite the leadership of Organised Labour, to sit and negotiate for a Cost Of Living Allowance (COLA) for all public sector workers to ease the pain and suffering of the economic hardship teachers (workers) go through.

The current economic difficulties in the country, in which the prices of all commodities, ranging from fuel to foodstuffs are increasing astronomically.

The only mitigation is to have a corresponding salary increase at least in the form of COLA. We call on the government to consider a 20% COLA for 2022 in addition to the 7% base pay increment.

OVERHAUL OF THE SINGLE SPINE SALARY STRUCTURE (SSSS)
The Policy that brought about the SSSS has outlived its lifespan, therefore we call on the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to as a matter of urgency convene a meeting with all the relevant parties to review the policy and allow for a realistic remuneration structure to be developed for the Public Sector.

Though the SSSS is meant to bridge the gap between public sector salaried workers, it has rather ended up widening the gap, and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission is now presiding over Unfair Wages and the Single Spine is now Multiple Spine with just a few enjoying realistic wages.

We request that these negotiations should commence before the end of this year so it can be completed before the 2023 negotiations begin in the first quarter of 2022.

THE SEMESTER SYSTEM FOR THE JHS LEVEL
We all agree that the Semester system was adopted by GES as a means to recover (Recovering Teaching) from the 2020 academic year disrupted by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

That notwithstanding, Teachers have done their best to risk their lives to go to school and teach under these risky conditions as most of the Basic Schools are unable to practice the social distancing recommendation by the Ghana Health Service.

Our teachers have expressed worry about the number of days spent in the Semester System as JHS Students and Teachers spend over twenty weeks in a school in a semester. Too much stress is put on the teachers and the students as well.

A visit to some of our schools confirmed the lack of concentration by the students and the stress they are going through. We believe GES is very much aware of this situation.

We wish to call for the return of the Trimester system to at least give enough rest time for the students since concentration is key in teaching and learning and also for the instructors to have adequate time to research, teach well and access the Pupils.

NLC AND MATTERS ARISING
The 17th of November 2021 deadline given to GES and Teacher Unions to resolve issues (such as responsibility allowance, deprived area allowance, promotion challenges etc) presented to the National Labour Commission is tomorrow Wednesday, November 17th, 2021.

We wish to caution that, if by the 17th of November, 2021, no favourable agreement is reached among the parties, we would not be able to hold the anger of teachers any longer.

ORGANIZATION OF CPD’S
We have taken a keen interest in the processes being adopted by some Directorates of GES to compel Teachers to compulsorily undertake Continuous Professional Development (CPD) workshops from some Service Providers without recourse to the policy guidelines for the CPD.

Teachers should rather be encouraged to undertake CPD to build their own points as it is linked to their licence renewal. We would not accept any attempt to force teachers to go through the training against their will.

Service Providers charging exorbitant fees should desist from it since this would deter Teachers from participating in the CPD in the future.

INDISCIPLINE IN OUR SCHOOLS
It is an undeniable fact that the Ghanaian child is becoming more indiscipline as a result of the ban on corporal punishment and its related disciplinary measures in our schools giving rise to the various acts of indiscipline in our schools with some resulting in the death of teachers and students, as well as the destruction to school properties.

In as much as we are against the abuse of corporal punishment by some teachers, it remains a major disciplinary tool.

We are by this, requesting for broader stakeholder engagement to reconsider the decision of the GES to ban some types of punishments in our schools. When we allow the canker to continue, it may have dire consequences on the future of our children and the country as a whole.

CONCLUSION
It would be in the interest of the government, through its various ministries and agencies to consider the issues raised and respond to them appropriately to forestall any industrial unrest in the days ahead.

Union leadership is unable to hold the anger of workers any longer, for we are sitting on a time bomb waiting to explode if the deplorable working conditions of public sector workers (especially teachers) are not addressed now.

Long live CCT GH.
Long live Teachers.
Long live Ghana.

Concern! Resolute!!
Dated Tuesday November 16th, 2021.
Delivered by:
King Ali Awudu,
President CCT GH

The Chairman of the group, Kingsley Anyimadu Darko, speaking to JoyNews said the high cost of living is affecting them.

 “We are giving the government up to Friday, the 2nd of July, 2021, to conclude all negotiations and pay teachers what is due us as soon as practicable. Teachers will lay down their tools if these demands are not met with alacrity,” he said.

He said the government has failed to adjust their salaries, although, “there have been a persistent increase in fuel, rent, utilities, building material, spare parts prices and general cost of living,” which is making their remuneration, insufficient.

The teachers also called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) to clarify issues concerning the results of the promotional examination released recently.

According to Kingsley Anyimadu, any unsatisfactory explanation will lead to the boycott of all promotional examinations going forward.

“The release of the results have brought fear and panic within the teaching fraternity. Affected teachers have tried to get proper clarification from the GES as to why within a matter of 24 hours, GES has to make a U-turn over an earlier communique issued,” he said.

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The group also wants the Education Service to halt the intended conduct of re-sit examinations for the affected teachers until the outstanding issues are resolved.

“If these issues are not addressed, teachers will boycott all promotion examinations and this will not augur well for the forward march of the GES,” he stated.

Mr Anyimadu said successive governments have failed to pay responsibility allowances to teachers, alleging that the government has neglected basic schools in the disbursement of capitation grants.

“Successive governments have paid lip service to the welfare of teachers, the current government has refused, and I repeat, refused to increase teachers’ salary for the 2021 academic year and there is no hope that that of 2022 will be increased,” Mr Anyimadu said.

The Teachers also raised concerns about the Free SHS policy as they claim most schools are resource-constrained, unable to feed students because the government has failed to release funds timely.

Mr Anyimadu said the situation is affecting teaching and learning, hence the need for some attention.

Watch the video attached for more: