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The striking teacher unions have rejected calls to return to the classroom, insisting that their industrial action will continue until the government takes concrete steps to address their outstanding demands.
The unions National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG) reaffirmed their position after meeting with Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu.
The Education Minister appealed to the unions to call off the strike and return to the classroom, assuring them that the government would work to address their concerns.
However, the unions said they were no longer prepared to rely solely on assurances and promises.
Their demands include the payment of outstanding promotion arrears and progress in negotiations on their conditions of service.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Head of Salaries, Grievances and Negotiations at GNAT, Isaac Baah, said the unions expected concrete action from the government.
“Indeed, we met the minister and his team this afternoon with regard to our strike action. It has been the old story of promises upon promises,” he said.
“At the moment, we are not taking promises. We want action.”
Mr Baah said teachers would remain at home until they saw evidence that the government’s commitments had been implemented.
“Our teachers must continue to stay home until we see something concrete,” he said.
He explained that the unions expected outstanding salaries and arrears to reflect on teachers’ payslips and be credited to their accounts before they would consider returning to school.
“Until we see the salary and the arrears reflecting on our payslips and credited to our accounts, until we see that, we are not going back to school,” he stated.
Mr Baah added that the strike would continue until all outstanding issues raised by the unions were addressed and resolved.
“We’ll continue to stay home until all our issues are addressed and resolved,” he said.