A Communication Team Member of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Akatsi South Constituency, Mr. Japhet Festus Gbede, has said transferring teachers to regions they are not familiar with as punishment does not show any seriousness on the part of the government to improve the education in the country.
Mr. Japhet in a one-page statement on his official Facebook page dated, 25th of January, 2022 to expose the government ill agenda against the people of the Volta Region said politically transferring teachers to places they don’t even dream of going in a way of punishing them deprives the school-going Children in that setting.
The outspoken Japhet demands from the Ministry of Education to reverse the punitive teacher transfer.
He said, while teachers can be transferred for various reasons including administrative or on request, what the government is doing is so retributive.
Transfers must not be punitive by any standard. Teachers should always feel there is a genuine reason they are being moved from one station to the other in a different geographical area. Mr. Japhet said.
He continued to add that, the delocalisation policy will affect teachers who are married couples.
Mr. Japhet in his statement has accused the ministry of Education of using punitive administrative actions to silence teachers from the Volta Region.
He reaffirmed his claim that GNAT and all other teacher unions had become subservient to the Nana Addo-led NPP government and were no longer advocating for their members’ (Teachers) interests.
According to Mr. Japhet, the government of President Nana Addo has posted a good number of newly trained teachers that are believed to be Voltarians to the Northern region and subsequently transferring active members in the service to the Northern part of the country.
READ HIS FULL STATEMENT BELOW:
STOP AND REVERSE THE POLITICAL TRANSFER OF TEACHERS FROM THE VOLTA REGION TO THE NOTHERN REGION.
The punitive teacher transfer hitting the Volta Region by the Ghana Education service under the leadership of President Nana Addo and the ruling NPP government must be reversed.
While teachers can be transferred for various reasons including administrative or on request, the current one under the heartless NPP government is too punitive and we must all rise to help these helpless trainees and those that are already in the active service.
How much is a teacher’s salary for one to be transferred from Akatsi in the Volta Region, Ho in the Volta Region, or Aflao to a village in the northern region? Is the government not too wicked and heartless to these young men and women?
The Ghana education service must be reasonable enough to know and ensure that those who are being transferred are taken to places they can work and produce results that can help develop this country, not to places where they feel they are being punished.
The ministry of education must again know that, despite their deliberate attempts of reducing votes from the Volta Region against the 2024 general election, their delocalization policy will affect married couples that are already in the service.
From trusted sources within the service, about some 2,000 teachers were scheduled to be delocalized this term. The most targeted were school heads and their deputies serving within their own districts as well as those who had served in the same station for at most 3 years.
The whole thing of delocalization policy has been a controversial issue for a long time now and has caused protests among teachers.
To ensure quality, accessible, and affordable education, there is a need to complete the abandoned John Dramani Mahama-led NDC Projects in the various regions and employ more teachers, not the wicked and political relocation of teachers to regions they are not familiar with.
This is the time for GNAT and all these teachers associations in the country to fight for their members to work close to their families and spouses not necessarily being active on deductions from their salaries.
Cc: All media Houses
