If care is not taken things may get worse – Dr Apaak on strike by teacher unions
The Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Education Committee, Dr. Clement Apaak says the education sector in the country is experiencing some sort of turmoil.
This he attributed to the frequency of strikes embarked on by teacher unions.
On Friday, three teacher unions, the Ghana National Association of Teachers, National Graduate Teachers and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers declared an indefinite nationwide strike to register their displeasure over the appointment of the new Director-General of the Ghana Education Service.
The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) said the labour unrest is due to the lack of effective communication between government, through the Education Ministry, and teacher unions.
Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story on Tuesday, Dr Apaak said if the issues causing the strikes are not addressed, every layer of education will be affected.
“We must remember that the education sector generally is experiencing some turmoil …There is a high possibility that if care is not taken, for the first time in the history of our nation and history of the educational sector, almost every layer of the ladder from Kindergarten to University will be affected by strike,” he stressed.
He expressed worry over the strike, adding that the Education Committee is disappointed with regards to the fact that the strike has extended to the third day, thus affecting students.
According to him, the strike is impacting the academic well-being of over 8 million students.
As a result of the severity of the strike, he urged the feuding parties to be up and doing to resolve the issue.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations has referred the three striking teacher unions to the National Labour Commission (NLC) after the second meeting with the teacher unions which was held on November 7 ended inconclusively.
Source: Ghana News
