Teacher trainees on strike
Members of the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regional sector of the Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana (TTAG) have begun an indefinite strike to register their displeasure at the scrapping of their allowance.
They vowed not to resume lectures until the government rescinded the decision to scrap the allowance for trainee teachers.
Last Wednesday, over 1,050 TTAG members at the Wesley College of Education (WESCO) in Kumasi wore red armbands in a demonstration as part of activities heralding their strike Thursday.
Both the President and the Secretary of the WESCO Students Representative Council (SRC), Messrs Ernest Opoku Agyeman and John Baguri, respectively, told the Daily Graphic in separate interviews that all students in first, second and third year had suspended all college activities, including morning devotion.
Other activities put on hold include lectures, societal classes and teaching practice which, to them, was a sign for their determination to get the government to rescind the “unpopular decision”.
Meanwhile, a press statement jointly signed by the TTAG - Ash/BA President and the Co-ordinator, Messrs John Asanzero Abotisum and Douglas Amponsah, respectively, stated that the branch would not relent in its decision to embark on strikes and demonstrations “until a positive measure is put in favour of all teacher trainees”.
It said under the teacher trainee allowance scheme, each beneficiary paid a tax of GH¢38 per month which was evident on his or her monthly payslip.
That meant that even as students they paid taxes to the government to support national development.
The statement said a survey recently conducted by the executive of the TTAG - Ash/BA showed that the impact of the increase in enrolment (which is the basis for the government scrapping the allowance) had compounded the challenges facing the colleges.
That, it said, was manifested in accommodation and feeding, among others.
It decried the situation where the Ministry of Education advised teacher trainees to opt for student loans, saying, “We don’t want the loan scheme because it can never solve the problem of the teacher trainee and the general public.”
The statement, however, called on mother associations of the TTAG, such as the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Coalition of Concerned Teachers, parents and all individuals interested in their cause to join the fight to reinstate the allowances.
In a story published by Graphic Online (www.graphic.com.gh), Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, the Minister of Education, justified the scrapping of allowances for teacher trainees, stating that there was no tertiary student in the country who was given the allowance.
Therefore, scrapping teacher trainee allowance was a step in the right direction.
The minister indicated that the ministry had put in place plans to liaise with the Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF), so that teacher trainees could assess the loans.
She also noted that the issue of guarantors that had become a problem for many would be looked at critically.