Sekondi/Takoradi teachers demonstrate

Takoradi, March 8, GNA - A group of teachers calling itself

Coalition of Concerned Teachers in the Sekondi/Takoradi

Metropolis on Tuesday took to the streets for the third time to

express their disappointment about the discrepancies in their

salary levels under the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS). The teachers, numbering over 400, wore red bands on their

necks and wrists and matched to the Sekondi-Takoradi

Metropolitan Education office in Takoradi, playing brass band

music. They gathered at the foot of the two storey building that

housed the staff of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metro Education

whilst the leadership of the group moved upwards to the office

of the Metro Director of Education, Nana Kofi Mbeah, to

present the petition. He was not there at the time and his deputy, Mr. Ato Bruce,

received the petition on his behalf. He pleaded with the demonstrating teachers to return to the

classroom but it was met with loud protest," We'll not

go=85..we'll not go=85=85we'll not." Mr Bruce told the GNA that they had received a directive

from the Controller and Accountant General's Department that

they should collect complaints from GES staff on Single Spine

Salary Structure payment and that, after compilation, they

should submit them to the regional education office latest by

Wednesday, March 9, for onward submission to them. The petition of the teachers read 93We're not happy about

the Single Spine Salary Structure. We were not informed about

any rationalization of salaries but adjustment. We'll resign from

course. We'll sit down till the technical committee resolves all

the anomalies detected on teachers' salaries. We'll teach with

our conscience." One of the teachers Mr William Adjolo, a teacher, told the

from the government and this time round, they would not heed

to any promise until they saw upward adjustment in their

salaries. He called for a proper job re-evaluation for a better

placement of teachers on the SSS and that the professional

allowance of teachers should be treated as category one

allowance and exempted from tax deductions. Mr Adjolo said no profession contributed much to the

human resource base of the economy than teachers but they

had not been given due recognition in terms of remuneration. He said they would not return to the classroom if nothing

was done about the situation immediately, saying 93We are not

going back to the classroom". Whiles some complained to the GNA about reduction in

their old salaries, others were utterly disgusted that not even a

penny was added to their salaries. They said they had lost trust in the executives of the Ghana

National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the National

Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) because they

were in bed with the government. Some of the inscriptions on the placards read 93Action

Year-All die be die", 93Uncle Atta, wake up-you were once a

teacher", 93Ennko Yie", 93We have been cheated for far too

long", 93Our reward is right here on Earth", 93We'll not accept

any Single Spine bone." Most of the public schools in the metropolis were not open

for academic work.