Re: Please NAGRAT, We Beg

NAGRAT said they will not call of their strike even if their salaries were increased by 100% and many people on this forum felt they are being unreasonable. The reason is that there is the need for complete overhaul of the conditions of service of teachers generally in this country and those of NAGRAT members in particular. This goes beyond money to the very core of the teaching profession. And that is why even some GNAT members are joining this strike by NAGRAT. If this government is at a loss about what to do with the conditions of service of these striking teachers, they should call for suggestions from the general populace and very many meaningful Ghanaians will not hesitate to offer suggestions free of charge.

There are three issues here that one needs to consider before advising or pleading with NAGRAT to call off their strike and return to work. In this article, I will want to throw a little bit of light on these three issues.

The first of these is the insensitivity of government to the fundamentals of the demands of this august association. What do I mean by this? Underlying all the issues raised by NAGRAT is the need for them to be given their own bargaining certificate. This request does not take any money from the national coffers and therefore has no potential to offset the national budget. The GES has refused to pay heed to this. Neither the ministers nor the president who are asking for the call-off of the strike cares about that. The government is only pretending not to care. The government’s attitude is that of neglect in the hope that with time, NAGRAT will be pressured by ordinary citizens to call off their strike. To me this attitude is problematic because it will never soften the position of these striking teachers. As I have said in my earlier article, there is the need for Ghanaians to advise government to begin sitting down with the NAGRAT executives instead of pretending to meet with the disgraced GNAT that can’t even put its house in order. Why has this government behaved with such impudence and lack of sensitivity in this whole issue by prevailing on the GES or the Ministry in charge of education to meet with NAGRAT? If NAGRAT calls off its strike in the wake of such negligence, they will be doomed for ever.

The second issue is the very premise of the argument that “for now no adhoc measures will be taken, with promises of an entirely new comprehensive public sector salary reforms structure beginning next January”. I would want to give the benefit of doubt to the government and believe that review of public sector salaries are actually going on. What I fail to understand is the basis with which various professional groups’ salary will be reviewed. After creating a distortion in salaries for one group of workers, what base salaries will be used to calculate the new salaries? Come January 2007, the government will announce for instance that following the review teachers have been given say 200% increase in salaries. This percentage increase will be based on the present salary levels that have been distorted by government’s own action and lack of foresight; the very salary level that has made the consolidated salary of an enrolled nurse more that three or four times(i.e. more that 300%) that of a graduate teacher. Should NAGRAT wait for this type of nonsensical analysis to be used against them? I wouldn’t and I do not expect them to. As I said earlier, teachers are overburdened enough by brain drain with its resultant crowded classrooms, lack of the needed materials to work with, and many more. And the earlier this is taken into account in compensating them appropriately with extra duty allowances the better. It will not matter much to them if these allowances are consolidated in their salaries or not. If this is done, the present distortions will be eased and we will have a good basis for review of salaries if the proverbial “national coffers” is seen incapable of supporting the resultant levels. We should not lose sight of the fact that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander.

The third issue is that there are pertinent issues raised by NAGRAT that does not require money to undertake. For instance, they have called for the replacement of the retired colleague of theirs who is still steering the affairs of the GES. For heaven’s sake, if this guy is on retirement, why is it becoming difficult for the government to ask him to step down? Why is the moral of teachers being sabotaged by keeping this old horse in power instead of promoting the next person in the line? Is this person being retained because of nepotism or political party affiliation? Why can’t Ghanaians see the harm being done by government’s pretence that this does not matter? Why is the fate of our children being towed with because of someone who is working on contract as government’s agent or whatever the political reason may be? Is the minister for education telling us the good lawyer cannot read even this small piece in the NAGRAT grievances and understand?

As Nuviadenu Kobla, rightly said in his article, “No matter how justifiable one's actions may be, if all appeals of reasonable counsel fall to the dogs, society begins to distance itself from someone it had hitherto, sympathised with.”

The government’s attitude is that of neglect in the hope that with time, NAGRAT will be pressured by ordinary citizens to call off their strike. To me this attitude is problematic because it will never soften the position of these striking teachers.

To NAGRAT this is a strike of the survival of its members. And it will not matter how much public opinion is manipulated against them. The problem is that all the supposed “appeals of reasonable counsel” have been given to the wrong party in this impasse. It is not that they have fallen to the dogs; they have actually been given to the wrong party. Let us direct our “appeals of reasonable counsel” to the government to forestall order at all workplaces. Otherwise after NAGRAT other workers groups will take their turn in striking and other way the nation will be the losers.

Mr. President, it is time for you to wake up from our slumber and act before all your gains are eroded by the many potential street children your inaction is about to create for the nation. There is the danger that some of these children who do not have teachers now may fall prey to the narcotic peddlers, others may become ready customers for the numerous tourists coming to the country and possible increase the incidence of aids in the country, and yet a good number could be mobilized into armed robbery. Ghana does not deserve these. So Mr. President, do the right thing; instead of the ineffective media battles, get a committee to meet with these striking teachers and I believe their positions could be softened thereafter. Fire this alleged retired GES person of high ranking and get someone in active person in place; this does not demand the commitment of any money.