Pay non-teaching GES staff ‘Critical Support Allowance’ — TEWU
The National Chairman of the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC), Mr Peter K. Lumor, has called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) to extend the payment of the Critical Support Allowance to non-teaching staff of the service.
He pointed out that although the allowance was supposed to be paid to all staff of the GES, only 11 classes in the GES received that benefit, while eight classes were denied its enjoyment.
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The allowance is paid to staff of the service as an incentive for them to perform better.
Mr Lumor made the call at the opening of the 12th Quadrennial Greater Accra Regional Delegates Conference of TEWU in Accra yesterday.
The two-day conference is on the theme: “60 years of TEWU’s contribution to the Development of Equitable Inclusive and Quality Education Delivery in Ghana.”
Mr Lumor deplored the discrimination against the non-teaching staff of the GES in the payment of the allowance and made a case for both teaching and non-teaching staff to be recognised as one entity and accorded the same privileges.
Fair treatment
Mr Lumor said the non teaching staff of the GES deserved to be treated fairly and should be given a fair share of every benefit they were entitled to, and served notice that the payment of the Critical Support Allowance to them was an issue that required urgent attention and TEWU would fight tooth and nail to win.
He called the double track system into focus and said: “When the teaching staff in either the Green or Gold batch are away, the non-teaching staff stay on and work,” and, therefore, it was not fair for them to be exempted from that allowance.
Challenges
Mr Lumor noted that TEWU had come a long way after 60 years, during which it had faced challenges that had helped the union to grow so it was time to analyse the rights and wrongs and fight to make the union better.
“Let us look at what we have done right and what we have done wrong, how we can move on into the future and seeing the vibrant membership we have now, we believe TEWU would get better.
“With increasing numbers, especially in the Greater Accra Region, TEWU is growing and at 60 years and with celebrations underway, we hope that by August 2019, when we would have the climax of the anniversary, there would be a better story to tell,” he added.
Regional issues
In her welcome address, the TEWU Regional Chairperson, Madam Salamatu Mahamah Braimah, talked about some issues she described as unfavourable that confronted members during the period under review.
She mentioned them as an imposed SIC policy, the non payment of the Critical Support Allowance to the remaining classes in the GES, unfair percentage of Double Track Motivation Allowances for TEWU members working in second cycle schools, unfair promotion policy, and the imposition of public service conditions of service.
Madam Braimah said the union was determined to tackle the issues, as well as others, with all seriousness and was hopeful that they would be resolved by the next quadrennial delegates conference.
Technology use
The Director of the Ghana Library Authority (GLA), Mr Hayford Siaw, who gave the keynote address, noted that the next 60 years would be more challenging for TEWU and, therefore, called for the adoption of “technology in education” which would play a major role in the union’s success.
He said there was the need for TEWU to prioritise the use of “in-house technological minds” to boost the progress of the union, as well as online courses to help members to improve their delivery.
“Look into the future and aspire to gain more opportunities and innovative ways to help ongoing professional development for your staff,” Mr Siaw told the TEWU executive.