CCT urges Government to fulfill promise

Accra, Sept. 23, GNA - The Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) on Friday appealed to government to fulfill its promise of paying the 20 per cent salary increment by the end of September.

It reminded government that teachers were expecting two different arrears this September; arrears from Single Spine Salary Structure with retroactive effect from January, 2010 and 20 per cent increment, effective January, 2011.

"Teachers should not be blamed if government fails to fulfill its promise," the CCT added in a statement jointly signed by Mr Ernest Opoku, President and Mr King Ali Awudu, Communications Director of CCT in Accra. The CCT commended government for the provision of 60,000 computers to basic school pupils, adding 93This is a laudable initiative but should not= be limited to only pupils. The CCT believes that the policy should be extende= d to all teachers since they are the fulcrum around which teaching and learning revolves.

"The CCT has uncovered a list of 47 of its leaders which GNAT has clandestinely submitted to the Director General of GES to be axed from the service. The CCT considers this cowardly act as unfortunate, especially coming from GNAT which professes to seek the interest of teachers. The CCT commend the Director General for the objectivity with which the issue was handled. "The CCT is also aware of the lies being peddled around by GNAT that the CCT leadership have been arrested and are in prison. GNAT further states that any teacher who associates him/herself with CCT will be arreste= d to join their colleagues in jail and would be sacked from GES. "The CCT emphatically wish to state that not a single CCT leader is in police cells not to talk of prison. All CCT leaders are in their various schools doing their job as expected. The GNAT leadership is now frustrated and doing everything possible to blackmail the enterprising CCT but this will never see the light of day; the CCT would surely triumph. We urge GNA= T to stop pursuing innocent teachers else the viper would soon strike." The CCT extended sympathy to the newly trained teachers and all other teachers who had not been placed on the appropriate scale for the past years.

"We consider this situation as worrisome, looking at the prevailing economic conditions. We urge government to, as a matter of urgency, ensure prompt payment of these salaries to avoid any unrest at the education front." The CCT said, 93It is important that these issues should not be politicised but must be considered dispassionately, since brushing them aside will paint a gloomy picture about the country's education". It expressed appreciation to teachers for standing resolute in the struggle for better conditions of service for Ghanaian teachers, and urged teachers to join hands to discharge their duties diligently and contribute their quota to national development.