Some teacher unions continued to raise concerns with the Pre-tertiary Bill which they say will segregate management of various educational institutions and render the Ghana Education Service ineffective if passed into law.
The teacher unions; which include the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana (CCT), had called on Parliament to suspend deliberations on the Bill until all outstanding issues with the Ministry of Education were resolved.
Parliament, however, referred the Teacher Unions to the Education Ministry for further engagement.
The government met with the various teacher unions in an attempt to address concerns they have raised over the bill.
Speaking to Citi News on the current dialogue, President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu, was hopeful their concerns will be considered in the final phase of the bill.
“We are discussing the various positions that we hold. We are still of the view that the fundamental basis [of the bill will cause] problems for education so we are calling on the government to withdraw the Bill. It is not easy for the government to concede on matters like this but we believe we are raising very cogent points.”
“We also feel that there are very important and serious issues for us to discuss with regard to achieving educational outcomes. But we believe that because the government invited us to this programme when we make our position to them they will accept it.”
Meanwhile, the Education Ministry has said it is using the Bill to pursue important reforms that will improve learning outcomes in our institutions of learning for the ultimate development of the country.
But the teacher unions have cautioned that should their stance be “disregarded or ignored, we pre-tertiary education unions would advise ourselves accordingly.”
Per the Bill, the proposed structure of the management of education will see senior high schools run by the Regional Coordinating Councils whiles basic schools will be run by the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
Technical and vocational schools will be under a Director-General, independent of the Ghana Education Service (GES).
