General News of Sunday, 3 April 2005

Source: GNA

Student Teachers appeal to Govt to reconsider quota system

Accra, April 3, GNA - Teachers on study leave without pay following the introduction of the quota system by the Ghana Education Service (GES) have expressed their disappointment over the system and appealed to the Government to come to their aid.

"For giving a study leave (with pay) to one out of two teachers, who attended the same training college, worked in the same town and for the same number of years, admitted to the same University and are reading for a degree in the same course is a travesty of justice and circumvention of the national decorum," the Student-Teachers protested in a statement made available to the Ghana News Agency on Sunday. "We the affected Student-Teachers think the quota system of the GES should be redefined and refined as it has given room for nepotism, favouritism, injustice, bribery and corruption."

The statement, signed by Mr Asante Danquah, Chairman the eight-member Committee of the affected Student-Teachers, appealed to the Government to ask the Ministry of Education to grant them study leave with pay, and for the GES to restore the deleted names on the pay roll and lift all embargoes until the exercise was over.

The student teachers threatened to make their plight known to their colleagues in the training colleges and those about to enter the colleges for them "to know the hopeless future that awaits them". They said they would advise themselves if there was no response by April 8, 2005.