NAGRAT expresses concern over maltreatment of teachers in TVET
The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has condemned the maltreatment of teachers it describes as professionals teaching in various Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions in the country.
In a statement sighted by Pretertiary.com, it said the establishment of TVET has created numerous challenges for professional teachers who were teaching in technical schools that have been converted into TVET institutions.
The statement signed by NAGRAT’s President, Angel Carbonu criticised the Ministry of Education (MoE) for failing to provide a transitional period that would allow teachers to choose whether to remain with the GES or transfer to TVET.
“One surprising thing is that the management of TVET has come out with a Scheme of Service for teachers in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) without discussions with the representatives of the teachers.
One wonders what the hidden motive of the management of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is, in developing a scheme without the representatives of the unions the teachers belong to
We will want to remind the management of TVET that the schools they are superintending over today were not built anew and that there were teachers teaching Technical Vocation subjects before TVET Service was created and that these teachers belonged to unions as a matter of right,” part of the press statement read.
The pre-tertiary teacher union further said that it is unacceptable to transfer teachers from the Ghana Education Service to TVET without their consent, and criticised the removal of teachers’ names from their respective unions.
“If the management of TVET does not want to regard its teachers as professional educationists, it is up to them. Some teachers who were on study leave from the GES have had their names taken off the payroll since both GES and the TVET Service could not account for them.
We give the Ministry of Education up to the 30th of September 2024 to address these challenges of our teachers in the TVET schools and also to come out with a transition timetable. Option should be given to teachers to opt for which service they want to belong,” NAGRAT said.
The Graduate Teachers Association also demanded that union representatives begin negotiations on all aspects of service conditions for their members working with Technical and Vocational Education and Training, in accordance with labour law.
“If these processes are not set in motion by the 30th of September 2024, the union has no other option than to embark on an industrial action in solidarity with our members working with TVET,” the teacher union said in the statement.
