Teachers’ unions across the country are becoming increasingly irate over the Akufo-Addo Bwumia-led government’s reluctance to honor its April 2023 commitments for Tier-2 pensions.
According to reports, the unpaid debt owed to these unions exceeds millions of Ghana cedis.
Sources in the education sector reveal that these funds have not been transferred to the Ghana Education Service Occupational Pensions Scheme (GISOPS), despite deductions made by the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD).
Organizational labor has suffered financial consequences as a result of the government’s attempt to obtain an IMF bailout.
Due to the hesitancy of former Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta, unions affiliated with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) have suffered losses, forcing them to take part in the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) and incur losses on their investments.
These repercussions are primarily affecting teachers, who make up the majority of organized labor’s workforce.
The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), with 70,000 members, and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana (CCT-Ghana), with more than 15,000 members, are the next two largest unionized associations in Ghana, after the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), which has about 280,000 members.
The fact that the CAGD has not been able to remit the dues that teachers have had deducted from their salaries since November 2023 is another factor aggravating the situation. There is a three-month backlog even though only one month’s allotment has been released, despite continuous complaints.
These funds are a source of concern because they fund union operations as well as subsidiaries like the Teachers Fund, which gives teachers financial support. As a result, for teachers looking for financial aid, delays in loan approvals—which can last up to three months—have become a serious problem.
The apparent disregard by analysts for statutory payments, such as those made from the MP’s Common Fund, GETFUND, and the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), is a point of concern for the Akufo-Addo Bawumia Government. The situation is made worse by delays in the 1Teacher-1Laptop laptop distribution program, which puts more pressure on elected executives and union leaders.
In reaction to the crisis, the unions assigned Charles Kusi of Legal Alliance the duty of writing to the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to request that the delays be addressed as soon as possible.
