Court dismisses suit against GES over demotion of 92 teachers

A High Court in Accra has dismissed the suit of 92 headteachers of some basic schools in the Ga West and North Municipalities who were demoted and transferred by the Ghana Education Service (GES) for charging unapproved fees.

Mrs. Justice Jennifer Abena Dadzie ruled that the Headteachers had not exhausted all their internal mechanism in addressing their issues.

According to the court, their salaries had not been reduced even though they were demoted.

The court held that, the decision of the GES to advertise their positions and also to instruct the applicants not to reapply was well positioned within the mandate of the Service.

The 92 Headteachers in the Greater Accra Region were contesting their demotion and transferred by the Ghana Education Service after they had charged unapproved examination fees.

The Headteachers in their suit contended that their removal by the GES was wrong because they were not given a hearing, hence prayed the court to order their reinstatement.

The Headteachers reportedly did not obey the GES’ directive not to take monies from pupils as printing fees for their third term examination.

In defence of the action of the Headteachers, the Zonal Chairman of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) in Ga West, Richard Kwashie Kovey, said the Headteachers were forced to make the decision because funds for the examination delayed in arriving.

According to the Headteachers in July 2019, they did follow the practice of charging their pupils some monies to procure printing examination papers and other examination materials.

They held that it was during that period that their attention was drawn to the fact that the Director-General of the Service had previously issued a notice warning the Headteachers of all public basic schools to desist from charging such sums.

Not quite long, letters were written to them summarily demoting them from Headteachers’ position to regular classroom teaching positions and arbitrarily transferring them to different schools in different locations although they had refunded the monies collected.

The Ghana Education Service in their affidavit in opposition stated that “No formal disciplinary action has been taken against the offending headteachers.”

The GES held that the headteacher position was only a “privilege” and not a promotion, adding that the decision to report them to the classroom was not a demotion since their rank and salaries were not affected.

Additionally, the GES held that the reposting of the headteachers was done in accordance with due process and the condition of service of the Service.