The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has called for justice and appropriate compensation for Ishmael Famous, a teacher at Asuoso Senior High School in Offinso, Ashanti Region, who was brutally stabbed in the left eye by a loitering student.
According to a Daily Graphic report sighted by GhanaEducation.org, the incident reportedly occurred when the teacher instructed the student, whose name had been withheld, to return to the classroom.
Tragically, the assault led to the loss of the teacher’s left eye, severely impacting his professional and personal life, the report noted.
Speaking on the situation, the General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Thomas Musah, has expressed worry at attempts to drop the case and emphasised the need for the teacher’s right to Workmen’s Compensation.
“The law demands that if somebody is working in his line of duty, and something happens to him, the law provides that he should be compensated. The law gives you what we call the Workmen’s Compensation,” he explained.
He warned that the association might resort to drastic measures, including withdrawing teachers’ services when schools reopen after the Christmas break if the police and Ghana Education Service (GES) fail to address the matter adequately.
Speaking exclusively with 3news’ Daniel Opoku, the General Secretary of GNAT, Thomas Musah Tanko also said, teachers may not hesitate to withdraw their services from next week if duty bearers fail to act swiftly.
“The teacher has lost his left eye, meaning that for the rest of his life, he will be going through life with only one eye. His medical bills and all those things, who will take care of it?” he asked.
That’s why we are by this medium telling the duty bearers of the Ghana Education Service that if by next week we do not hear anything positive, we will decide the next line of action,” Mr Tanko warned.
The teacher union member asked the management of the Ghana Education Service (GES) responsible for matters related to the pre-tertiary education sector to act swiftly to tame the anger of the teachers.
“We want to tell the duty bearers if by next week we don’t hear anything from them whatever happens the duty bearers will have themselves to blame. We will not sit back to allow ourselves to be treated like we are animals. Teachers are not animals. We are saying what has happened is unacceptable and we shall react in a way that will shock the nation,” he warned.
The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) official called for compensation for the injured teacher saying “Whatever compensation that is due to the teacher must be given to him.”
“The student involved must be brought to book and anything that must be done to compensate the teacher must be done. We will never allow this matter to rest. And we are here telling the regional directors that they should be mindful that we are following the matter at the national level and whatever happens they should have themselves to blame,” the General Secretary cautioned.