Sacking of DG: Education ministry resumes meeting with striking Teachers today

Ferdinand|EducationGhana|November 7| Sacking of DG: Education ministry resumes meeting with striking Teachers today

The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, together with the Ministry of Education, will, today, Monday, 7 November 2022, resume its engagements with striking teachers over the appointment of Dr Eric Nkansah as the new director-general of the Ghana Education Service.

The striking teachers include the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT).

They had kicked against the new appointment a few weeks ago.

At a press conference prior to the strike, NAGRAT President Angel Carbonu, said President Nana Akufo-Addo must immediately withdraw the appointment of Dr Eric Nkansah, whose appointment will be made permanent after the advice of the Governing Council of the GES and the Public Services Commission.

A letter from the office of the president announcing his appointment said Dr Nkansah is expected to indicate his acceptance of the role within 14 days.

He replaces Prof Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, whose services, the government said, were no longer needed.

However, the teacher unions say Dr Nkansah is not one of them and, so, cannot be their boss.

“The teacher unions started press conferences yesterday [Wednesday, 19 October 2022]. I did mine yesterday and this morning, my brothers in GNAT were supposed to do theirs until there was a development that annoyed and surprised all of us; that a new director-general has been appointed to the Ghana education service,” Mr Carbonu told journalists at the press conference.

He said: “The authority to appoint a director-general is the president of the land. Unfortunately, contrary to what the teacher unions indicated – that we would want a director-general who is a professional teacher, who has passed through the mill, who can bring his knowledge, skills and influence to bear on the activities of teachers and non-teachers in the Ghana education service, contrary to that, the gentleman who was appointed yesterday, is not a teacher.”

“He is a banking officer who was a special assistant in the office of the minister, and has been appointed as the director-general of the Ghana education service,” he indicated.

“We are not happy with this development. It is as if we don’t have professionals and well-educated people who have gone through the mill in education in this country, to run education,” Mr Carbonu added.

He bemoaned: “It is as if we are being told that we, educationists in the Ghana education service, are not good to manage education in this country.

“We are calling on the president to rescind this decision; that the gentleman who has been appointed, is not qualified by any standard, to be the director-general of the Ghana education service.”

Mr Carbonu said Dr Nkansah is an outlier.

“If you look at the history of directors-general of the Ghana education service, they are either senior officers within the Ghana education service or professors from universities who have an education background and we can take them one after the other and you’ll see and know their credentials.”

“The gentleman who has been appointed is qualified as a banking officer, who has done some small stints of teaching with Kumasi Polytechnic in those days.”

“When the minister was appointed, he became a special assistant to the minister and does not have any credentials or qualification to be director-general of the Ghana education service.”

“We are calling for his removal, he is not qualified to be director-general of the Ghana education service and his presence will not motivate professionals who have been in this Service for more than 20 to 30 years and have risen to higher ranks within the Ghana education service.”