About 8000 teachers recruited by the government to facilitate the implementation of the controversial double track system under the Free SHS policy, have not been paid their salaries five months after their employment.
The Ghana Education Service, which is in charge of processing of the newly recruited teachers for their biometric data to be captured and staff identity cards issued them, is said to be dragging its feet in the exercise.
Of the three processes required, the new teachers have completed only one, which is the filling of what they termed IPPD forms. They are yet to undergo biometric registration and to be issued with their ID cards.
According to the teachers who form the Association of Newly Recruited Teachers (ANRT), they have met the Education Minister Mathew Opoku Prempeh twice on the non-payment of their salaries, but there appears to be no hope in sight for them.
President of the ANRT, Collins Nana told 3news.com Tuesday that the Minister assured them in January this year that their salaries will be paid March ending “but what we know is that before we get our pay we have to go through all the processes”.
“They are not telling us the truth and we have to do something about,” he told 3news.com.
Earlier in March when they met the Education Minister for the second time, Mr Agyemang said the GES gave an excuse that they were having technical problems with their system, hence the delays in the processing of their salaries.
“We think they are lying,” Agyemang said, indicating there appears to be a growing culture within the GES where it takes a year or more before newly recruited teachers are paid.
“It’s normal for them [but] I think that is a bad thing. It’s really bad. Some of us are struggling and we have to go to school too to teach” the ANRT president added.
He said life has become unbearable for the new teachers, noting some of them struggled to secure accommodation because they were posted to places that were “alien” to them and now “how to even feed ourselves, it’s not been easy for us”
“The GES should tell us what is wrong; they are saying system, what system?” Agyemang demanded.
Earlier in a statement dated and issued Tuesday, the teachers said five months after appointments letters were given them, “nothing has been put in place to make sure that we teachers will have some financial freedom to go about our work with peace of mind”.
According to them, they are now faced with accommodation, transportation and feeding problem, stating “These are life threatening to say the least”.
“What is heart-breaking is the silence on the part of stakeholders,” the group said.
They have thus appealed to all stakeholders and President Nana Akufo-Addo to intervene to ensure they get their salaries.
“If government does not intervene in a timely manner, we will be compelled to take the necessary actions,” the teachers warned.
By Stephen Kwabena Effah|3news.com|Ghana