Teachers on strike but others attend classes

The industrial action called by the three teacher unions was received with mixed reactions by the rank and file of the unions on its first day.

While some teachers heeded the call to lay down their tools over what they said was the delay in the payment of the legacy arrears, others defied their leadership by reporting to school to work.

This came to light when the Daily Graphic visited some basic and second-cycle schools to observe how the strike declared by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers, Ghana (CCT) was received by teachers.

Strike

Last Thursday, the teacher unions said they were embarking on the strike from yesterday over the failure of the government to pay the legacy arrears due members.

The legacy arrears spanned the period 2012 to 2016.

The unions, among other things, said they were concerned with the payment of the arrears because their checks had revealed that the arrears had been verified and approved for payment by the Controller and Accountant-General’s Internal Audit Unit about three weeks earlier.

“However, we were informed that when the verified data were handed over to the Ghana Education Service (GES) for review and action, the GES would not budge because it claimed some discrepancies had been discovered with some of the payments already effected,” the President of GNAT, Mrs Phillipa Larsen, who spoke on behalf of the unions, said at the press conference to announce the strike.

GES reacts

But the GES expressed shock at the strike by the unions, saying the conduct of the union leaders was in bad faith and undermined the good working relations which had been established and nurtured over the years.

According to the Director-General of the GES, Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, about 95 per cent of the affected 120,232 staff of the GES had been paid and the rest was going through the process to be paid.

Visits

At the Ngleshie Amanfro Senior High School (SHS) in the Ga South municipality, some teachers had reported to school and were seen teaching at the time of the Daily Graphic’s visit.

Some teachers had also reported but were not teaching, while a chunk of them was not at post, Emmanuel Bonney writes.

Some of the students said teaching was either done in turns or national service persons took over the classes.

A teacher belonging to NAGRAT who spoke on condition of anonymity said although he was aware of the strike, he was around to help the students.

Beaming with smiles, he said: “You know they are our children and so we have to help them.”

A teacher at the Christian Methodist SHS and member of the CCT, who gave his name only as Nana, said he was teaching because there was no basis for the strike, since there were more pressing issues to deal with, including allowances.

Process

Nana said once the government had started paying the arrears, with about 95 per cent of affected teachers covered, it was needless to embark on the strike.

Another teacher of the school, Mr Joseph Afari, also of the CCT, shared similar sentiments.

Madam Trudy Ashong, who is a member of NAGRAT, said she had never gone on strike in her 30 years of teaching.

Madam Ashong, who was seen conducting a Home Economics Practical End of Semester Examination at the time of the visit, said she did not go on strike because of the passion she had for teaching.

“I have the desire to help the children and that is what I always want to do. I get satisfaction from helping and I happy when they are successful,” she said.

Examination

At the Accra Academy, students were seen busily writing their end-of-term examination.

In separate interviews with some of the students, they said while some teachers reported to class, others did not.

“We had Economics this morning and the teacher came. Other teachers are also supervising the writing of examination,” a student, Felix Andam, said.

A teacher described the strike as a “semi strike”, since some teachers were at post while others were away.

“The thing is being politicised. Because some people think their government is in power, they don’t want to join. But today is just the first day; I am sure in the coming days the strike will start biting,” another teacher who did not want to mention his name said.

All the teachers were at post at the Kaneshie Awudome Three Junior High School (JHS) when the Daily Graphic got there about 11 a.m.

Anyaa

At the Anyaa M/A ‘1’ Basic School, it was observed that classes were in session, even though some teachers were absent, Jennifer Kwasin reports.

Some of the classes had been combined to ensure that students without teachers in their classrooms would not loiter and disturb other students.

The Headmistress of the school, Mrs Juliana Opokua Dapaah, said at about 7:30 a.m. she was the only member of staff in the school.

According to her, she conducted the assembly and asked the students to stay in their classrooms, with the intent to dismiss them after 12 noon when there was no sign of a teacher.

“The teachers then came in after assembly. Although not all of them came, majority came to take up their classes and everything is calm now,” she said.

Loitering

The St Justin Anglican Cluster of Schools was a different scenario, as some students were seen loitering on the school compound, while others were standing on the balcony of the classrooms chatting and making noise.

Those who were inside the classrooms were also seen playing and chatting. Only four of the about 40 classrooms at the cluster of schools had teaching activities going on at the time of the visit.

Apenkwa Presby

Ruby Buafor reports that at the Apenkwa Presby Primary School, some teachers were not at post, while others had gathered in groups to chat, unconcerned about developments in the school.

Some of the pupils were also seen playing around, while others were eating.

When asked if they knew their teachers were on strike, they said they were in their revision week and were only preparing for their end-of-term examination.

The headmistress and some teaching staff declined to talk to the Daily Graphic, with the former saying she had received orders from her superiors not to respond to questions from media persons who visited the school.

Meanwhile, at the Tesano Cluster of Schools, students were in their classrooms with their teachers, waiting for end-of-term examination to commence.

The Headmaster of the school, Mr William Yormewu, said students had not been informed about the strike and so most of the teachers were at post to prevent students from loitering.

Unnecessary

A teacher of the Tesano Cluster of Schools who spoke on condition of anonymity said the strike was uncalled for at this time, since schools were preparing to write end-of-term exams.

“This strike should have come in the middle of the term when academic work was going on seriously, not at the tail end,” he said.

At the St Thomas Aquinas SHS, the Headmaster, Mr Paul Amoasi, pleaded with teachers to end the term with the students.

Some Form Three students who spoke with the Daily Graphic said they were not affected by the strike because most of their teachers came to supervise their first paper for their end-of-term exams.

At the Achimota Basic School, some Form Three JHS students lamented that they were missing a lot, since they had a few months to write the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

“We are missing a lot as Form Three students. We have a lot to study but our teachers are on strike and we are here doing nothing,” one of them who pleaded anonymity said.

Upper East

From Bolgatanga, Vincent Amenuveve reports that teachers in public schools in the Upper East Region joined the nationwide strike to back their demand for the payment of legacy arrears.

A visit to the Methodist Primary, the St John’s JHS, the St Charles’s Primary, the Sokabisi Primary and the Presbyterian Primary schools showed that the schools had been closed down temporarily and the pupils asked to go home until the teachers resumed work.

As a result of the situation, pupils could be seen loitering in town, while others were seen riding their bicycles home.

Teacher representative

When contacted, the Upper East Regional Chairman of the CCT, Mr Richard Sunday Yinbil, indicated that members of the three teacher unions in the region had joined the nationwide strike.

“As you can see, this strike is in full force until the government considers our demands to pay all our legacy arrears," he pointed out.

When asked why the strike had to coincide with end-of-term examinations, he said the same teachers who were to supervise the examinations had, over the years, borrowed money to survive and so they could not continue in that manner.

Ahafo Region

Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah & Biiya Mukusah Ali report from Sunyani in the Ahafo Region that academic activities, including end-of-term examinations in primary and JHS in the Sunyani municipality, have been disrupted following the strike declared by teachers.

Some JHS students who had prepared to begin their end-of-term examination yesterday were disappointed because many of their teachers failed to show up due to the strike.

At the Nyamaa Basic School in Sunyani, the pupils were seen loitering and playing around their school.

The Headmistress of the school, who refused to mention her name, told the Daily Graphic that she was waiting for the pupils to finish taking their meals for her to close them, since the teachers were not around to supervise their examinations.

She said some of the teachers reported to school but later left, while others did not show up at all.

At the St James’s Catholic JHS, the students were seen in their classrooms studying on their own, under the supervision of Nation Builders Corps (NaBCO) and national service persons.

The situation at the Twene Amanfo Senior High and Technical School in Sunyani was not different, as the students decided to do group studies in the absence of their teachers.

In one situation, some teachers decided to join the students and assist them in their studies.

The final-year students were busily writing their mock examination under the supervision of NABCO and national service persons.

The Headmaster of the school, Mr Gordon Osei Marfo, told the Daily Graphic that the strike had affected teaching and learning.

He went round the various classrooms to advise the students to stay in class to study, either in groups or individually.

He tried, to no avail, to convince some of the teachers in the school to teach.

A form one class monitor of the Home Economics Department of the school, Yeli Adwoa, called on the government to settle the matter with the teachers to bring them back to the classroom.

She said the Gold Track students had been left behind, compared to the Green Track students.

Tema

From Tema, Benjamin Xornam Glover reports that the effect of the strike was mixed, as some teachers were at post.

Some students were, however, seen studying on their own in the schools visited.

The Tema Metropolitan GNAT Secretary, Mr Seth Annang, told the Daily Graphic that due to the public holiday last Friday, the communique could not reach all members.

He said although notices of the strike were sent to the various schools, a number of headteachers said they had not seen the communique.

Mr Annang said his office had to go round yesterday to formally serve the various heads of schools with the communique.

According to him, having duly notified the heads of schools, the about 2,854 GNAT members in the metropolis had fully joined the strike in support of GNAT's position and would stay away from the classrooms.

At the Chemu SHS, a teacher, Mr Samuel Akafia, said teachers had joined the strike.

Mr Akafia, who is the Tema Zonal Chairman of NAGRAT, said apart from Form Three students who were writing their mock examination, which was being supervised by the heads of departments and the assistant headmasters, students in forms one and two who should have started thier end-of-term examination yesterday could not do so because of the strike.

Tamale

Samuel Duodu reports from Tamale, the Northern Regional capital, that teachers in some basic public schools in the metropolis had complied fully with the nationwide strike.

Among the schools visited were the Tishigu Anglican, Police Barracks and the Bethel Methodist Primary and JHSs, all located in the central part of the metropolis.

At the Tishigu Anglican School, the Daily Graphic met some teachers and teacher trainees who had reported for school but said they were not teaching as a result of the strike.

Some of the classrooms were locked, with the pupils asked to go back home as a result of the strike, while others decided to play on the compound.

The situation was the same at the Police Barracks and the Bethel Methodist schools where the pupils were asked to go home because of the strike.

Cape Coast

From Cape Coast, Shirley Asiedu-Addo reports that many pupils and students were seen loitering on the streets of the metropolis around 11 a.m. due to the strike.

At the Jacob Wilson Sey Basic School, the pupils and teachers had left the school when the Daily Graphic got there.

A few of the pupils who were studying outside said they were doing private studies.

Pupils of AME Zion ‘A’ told the Daily Graphic that their teachers were in school but were not teaching.