[ 2019-02-26 ]

Teacher Unions oppose privatisation of public education
Accra, Feb. 26, GNA – Unions in
pre-tertiary education have expressed disaffection
with the privatisation, commercialisation and
commodification of public education in the
country.

The Unions are made up of the Ghana National
Association of Teachers (GNAT), National
Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT),
Teachers and Education Workers Union (TEWU) and
Coalition of Concerned Teachers – Ghana
(CCT-GH).

They called on the Government to abolish the Ghana
Partnership Schools Project, which empowers the
private operator to decide to or not to work with
the Ghana Education Service (GES) staff.

Mr David Acheampong, the General Secretary of
GNAT, speaking at a joint press conference of the
Unions, said failure to abolish the Project would
leave the Unions with no option than to marshal
their forces to resist it.

The Project would operate in Ashanti, Northern,
Central and Greater Accra regions with a total of
100 selected schools having kindergarten, primary
and junior high school and at least 300 students
enrolled across classes.

The Project stipulates that the selected schools
should not have any immediate need for
infrastructural development or rehabilitation.

It is purported to run for three years, after
which it may be institutionalised permanently.

According to government, funding would be sourced
from the World Bank’s International
Development Association, and the Global
Partnership in Education as loan and grants.

Mr Acheampong said one concern of the Unions was
that under the project, transfer of GES staff from
the selected schools would not attract transfer
grants and school heads would not be maintained
automatically by the private operator.

“The operator has the liberty to invite
people from within or outside the GES to manage
the schools,” he added.

He said the Unions found the Project a subtle and
eventual privatisation, commercialisation and
commodification of public education with approval
of government.

Mr Acheampong said the Unions were amazed that the
Government would be trumpeting the implementation
of free secondary education policy only to turn
round to institute education for the higher bidder
at the basic, primary and junior high schools.

He said those arrangements were against the spirit
and letter of their Collective Agreements with the
GES and the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651).

He reminded the Government of the Preamble to
their Collective Agreement, which enjoined the
parties not to be anti-union or anti-management
but rather recognise and agree to promote tryst,
respect, fairness and endeavour to uphold those
virtues in policies and standards.

He said the Ministry of Education and the GES were
collaborating with ARK, an international
consortium, to implement the Project with the
parties already holding workshops with the
intention to finalise the Draft Report for the
implementation of the Project.

“In all these endeavours, the major
stakeholders; GNAT, NAGRAT, TEWU and CCT-GH have
not been involved in the two-year planning process
of the Project and they find this unfortunate and
unacceptable.”

Mr Acheampong reiterated that government was
obligated, under the laws of the country, to
provide each school with competent staff, adequate
resources, teaching and learning materials and
allied logistics.

He said government was also required to put in
place a proper and effective system of supervision
to ensure a vital quality education delivery.

“We challenge government to put these in
place, instead of privatising schools management
to achieve the desire results,” he added.

He said the way to go was not privatisation,
whether opened or veiled (as under the Project)
but the supply of adequate resources and timely
releases of capitation grants so school heads
would not resort to or rely on direct borrowing to
run the schools.

“This is what government should do; if it
fails, the heads would run the schools as they are
and they should not be held responsible for any
lapses or aberrations in the schools.”

Source - GNA

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