Bawku (U/E) June 17, GNA - Teachers in the Bawku East Municipality on Monday demonstrated through the principal streets of Bawku to press home their demand for government to restore the Cap 30 pension scheme. Some of the placards they carried read, "Treat Teachers The Same", "No Cap 30, No Future", "Be Fair to Teachers", and "Teachers Future Bleak, SSNIT"

The demonstrators later presented a petition to government, which was received by the acting Municipal Co-coordinating Director, Mr Alhassan Fuseini, on behalf of the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr. Abdul-Rahman Gumah.

The petition urged government to treat urgently the teachers demand for fairness with other public sector workers in order to secure peaceful industrial harmony in the education sector.

The Municipal Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Mr. Edward Yin Yrambon, who presented the petition also called on government to avoid feet dragging on demands for restoration of Cap 30, adding that it would rather compound the problem.

He urged the authorities to desist from adopting discriminatory policies when it comes to putting in place improved pension scheme for workers.

Mr Yrambon said this injustice was having a negative impact on the output of teachers, thus contributing to the falling standards of education.

He said it was now time for teachers to be motivated to ensure that they turn out highly qualified professionals to develop the nation. The Municipal GNAT Secretary stated that teachers would continue to fight for justice to prevail for improved pension scheme and therefore, urged government to dialogue with them in order not to derail progress in education.

Mr.Fuseini assured the teachers that their demands would be forwarded to the higher authority for prompt attention.

He commended the demonstrators for conducting themselves well and expressed the hope that they would continue to dialogue with government for a peaceful settlement of their demands.