A group of teachers known as the Coalition of Newly-Recruited Graduate Teachers of Ghana have threatened to boycott classes over the non-payment of their salaries.

The group, which comprises Science, Mathematics, English and Geography teachers in various Senior High Schools in the country say government has not paid their salaries over the last seven months.

A statement issued by the group and copied to the media said they had gone through the necessary procedures to ensure their payments are made, however, the money has not been forthcoming.

They said, the situation has left them in dire economic situation and have called on the government to act swiftly to ensure their salaries are paid.

"We have gone through the established recruitment process of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to teach Science, Mathematics, English and Geography in the various Senior High Schools across the country. This was preceded by the writing of a recruitment examination which was conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) at the behest of GES. Our appointments took effect from 1st September, 2016 and we have duly been at post ever since our appointments. Evidential records abound to prove this," the statement said.

It added that, "We have gone through the required processes that should effect payment of our remuneration. Unfortunately, however, the payment has not been forthcoming. A greater percentage of us have gone through the required Staff ID acquisition and subsequent biometric registration while some are still waiting to receive their Staff ID numbers. Those who have gone through the biometric registration have not been paid their salaries. The few paid received on three months' salary. We are in the seventh month of employment with no payment of salaries making teaching very difficult for us.

They added that previous efforts to have their concerns addressed have been unsuccessful as they are told their staff ID numbers have to be unblocked.

The very questions we want to ask are: (I). is it our duty to unblock these numbers? (II) how are we expected to be effective in the classroom when our physiological and psychological needs are not satisfied?

The teachers have declared a March 31 deadline as ultimatum for the Ministry of Finance, Ghana Education Service and the Controller and Accountant General Department to quickly address their plight or risk having them boycott all classroom teacher-related activities, as we cannot continue to teach on empty stomachs.

Kwame Opoku Agyemang - President (0202471070)