Teacher unions raise red flags over pension contributions arrears

The pre-tertiary teacher unions have given the government up to the end of February this year to settle arrears due its members on the Ghana Education Service Occupational Pension Scheme (GESOPS).

The unions — Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Coalition of Concerned Teachers-Ghana (CCT-GH) and the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) — said the estimated contributions in respect of members of the scheme in arrears were in the region of GH¢433,379,819.90.

“In light of the above, we the unions in pre-tertiary education wish to state emphatically that if by the end of February 2023 all the arrears are not paid, we have no other option than as the first line of action, take the necessary steps to ensure that the regulator’s (National Pensions Regulatory Authority) fees are not paid effective March 2023,” it said.

Officers

This was contained in a statement signed by the General Secretary of GNAT, Thomas Musah; the President of NAGRAT, Eric Agbe-Carbonu; the President of CCT-GH, King Awudu Ali, and the General Secretary of TEWU, Mark Dankyira Korankye.

The statement said the last payment from the Controller and Accountant General’s Department to members’ pension scheme was for the month of March 2022, which was paid in January 2023, meaning that “we have nine months outstanding”.

Scheme

“Using the monthly contribution of the month of March 2022 as basis, we estimate that contributions in respect of members of the scheme in arrears are in the region of GH¢433,379,819.90,” it said.

The resultant danger of the situation, it said, was that the educational worker “is being denied any investment value of his/her contribution”.