Teacher union threatens strike action over maltreatment of teachers in TVET

The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has given the Ministry of Education September, 30 to resolve challenges faced by professional teachers within the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector else it will embark on strike action.

This follows the lack of consultation with teacher representatives during the development of the scheme of service for TVET teachers and the migration of teachers from the Ghana Education Service to TVET without their consent.

Speaking in an interview with Citi News, the President of the pre-tertiary teacher union said his outfit has met with the Ministry in Charge of Education and agreed on a two-week timeline to address these issues.

NAGRAT in a statement also criticised the Ministry of Education (MoE) for failing to provide a transitional period allowing teachers to choose whether to remain with the Ghana Education Service or transfer to TVET.

“One surprising thing is that the management of TVET has come out with a Scheme of Service for teachers in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) without discussions with the representatives of the teachers.

One wonders what the hidden motive of the management of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is, in developing a scheme without the representatives of the unions the teachers belong to

We will want to remind the management of TVET that the schools they are superintending over today were not built anew and that there were teachers teaching Technical Vocation subjects before TVET Service was created and that these teachers belonged to unions as a matter of right

If the management of TVET does not want to regard its teachers as professional educationists, it is up to them. Some teachers who were on study leave from the GES have had their names taken off the payroll since both GES and the TVET Service could not account for them.

We give the Ministry of Education up to the 30th of September 2024 to address these challenges of our teachers in the TVET schools and also to come out with a transition timetable. Option should be given to teachers to opt for which service they want to belong

If these processes are not set in motion by the 30th of September 2024, the union has no other option than to embark on an industrial action in solidarity with our members working with TVET,” NAGRAT said in the statement.