Effiduase (Ash), Oct 9, GNA - About 133 teachers with the rank of Superintendent One in the Sekyere East District have decided to go on strike to back their demand for the payment of their accumulated salary arrears from 2001 to 2003.

They said disparities in the salaries of Superintendent Two and Superintendent One teachers in the district had necessitated their decision.

Making their intentions known at a meeting at Effiduase, Mr Kwaku Adade-Boakye, a spokesman for the teachers, said Superintendent Two teachers, before the implementation of a salary adjustment programme for some personnel of the Ghana Education Service (GES) were assistant superintendents.

He said though Superintendent Two teachers benefited from the programme, Superintendent One teachers were excluded from the package.

Mr Adade-Boakye said Superintendent Two teachers, who were promoted in September 2002 have been taking higher salaries than the Superintendent One teachers who are their seniors.

He said the Superintendent Two teachers, who were promoted Superintendent One in September 2002, have been placed on level 11.7 whereas the Superintendent One teachers who were promoted on or before 2002 were placed on level 11.4 and 11.5.

Mr Adade-Boakye said the affected teachers reported the anomalies to the appropriate quarters for correction but to no avail.

The teachers said in spite of assurances given by officials of the Ghana National Association of Teachers at a meeting to rectify the mistakes by the end of September 2003, nothing has been done.

Mr Adade-Boakye said: ''Our action is not politically motivated to discredit the government but to lay bare the facts. We will not return to the classroom until the anomaly has been rectified.''