Don’t promote political party interests
The Secretary General of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC), Mr Kofi Asamoah, has admonished workplace unions to resist the temptation of using the unions to promote the interest of political parties.
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He stressed that the common interest of the unions remained the welfare of their members and asked them to be mindful “that we are not divided on political stands, otherwise we are doomed”.
Speaking at the 11th quadrennial national delegates conference of the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) in Kumasi on Wednesday, Mr Asamoah reminded the unions of the need to remain united to champion the cause of their members who were affected by worsening economic conditions in the country.
The six-day congress is on the theme: “Quality education for national development — the role of the educational worker, the responsibility of all”.
Polarisation
Mr Asamoah said one major problem facing the country currently was that the multi-party system had polarised the country along party lines.
That he described as very serious and warned the unions not to be lured into toeing that line, as it portended their demise.
“Let us not turn the guns on ourselves but on the managers of the educational sector and the economy. Let’s be one another’s keeper,” he advised.
Social interventions
Touching on the theme, he said although the government’s social interventions in the educational sector, such as the capitation grant and the school feeding programme, had improved enrolment in schools, they had not translated into quality.
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He said the quality of education in the country kept deteriorating due to inadequate infrastructure and teachers.
“We need to go beyond the enrolment and pay attention to quality delivery and standards,” he said.
Consequently, he urged the Ministry of Education to ensure that the necessary infrastructure and logistics were provided for teachers and educational workers to enable them to give their best and produce a quality workforce for the country.
Conditions of service
The Minister of Education, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, told the delegates that the government would continue to ensure that conditions of service for workers were conducive to enable them to give their best for the development of the country.
She appealed to workers to always exercise patience and be tolerant while negotiating for their conditions of service.
She stressed the need for consensus building in such negotiations, which she said must also be guided by respect and devoid of entrenched positions.
“Better conditions of service are not made but created by a workforce that is well informed, dedicated and committed to duty.
“Such a workforce does not only entice management but also makes it difficult for it to easily turn down workers’ demands,” she added.
Prof. Opoku-Agyemang also told the workers not to be only concerned about best practices elsewhere but also accountability and to be guided by the national economy.
TEWU
The National Chairman of TEWU, Mr Peter K. Lumor, said teachers and educational workers had resolved to work hard for the betterment of the economy, in spite of the socio-economic challenges facing them as a union.
He said the union would continue to engage with the government for a review of the conditions of service for its members.