GES, Head Teachers case struck out

The Commercial Division of the Accra High Court has struck out the suit filed by 110 headteachers of public basic schools who have been removed by the Ghana Education Service (GES).

The headteachers stationed within the Ga West and North Municipalities in the Greater Accra Region were challenging their removal by the GES for taking allegedly unapproved fees.

In court on Tuesday, when the case was called, the lawyer for the applicants Justice Sai informed the court their decision to withdraw the matter in its current form.

Counsel, however, indicated that they will refile the case because the current suit per the recommendation will take a longer period for the Attorney General to respond to their case.



BACKGROUND

In their suit before the court, the teachers argue that their removal by the GES was wrong because it was done without giving them a hearing.

They also prayed the court to order for their reinstatement.

The headteachers reportedly did not obey the GES’ directive not to take monies from pupils as printing fees for their third term examination.

In defence of the action of the headteachers, the Zonal Chairman of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) in Ga West, Richard Kwashie Kovey, said the headteachers were forced to make those decisions because funds for the examination delayed in arriving.

He challenged the punishment being meted out to the headteachers describing it as unfair as some of them are being demoted to teach at the basic level.

“We are looking at 110 headteachers. For most of them, what we have heard is that they are being sent to teach in Kindergarten. If you send someone who is a maths or social studies teacher to kindergarten, you can imagine what will happen to those 4-year-old KG students.”



The Ghana Education Service had warned headteachers against charging parents to print examination questions.

Headteachers were given the liberty to write examination questions on the chalkboard, sparking a trend with teachers posting photos of writing questions on the board.

The Ghana Education Service later directed that headteachers of public Basic Schools should contact printers in their locality to print exam papers for them on credit while waiting for the Based Grant (Ghc5.00 per head) to be released to defray the indebtedness therefrom.

That, out of the Ghc5.00 per head, head teaches should use Ghc 3.00 per head for pupils in KG1 to Primary 3, Ghc4.00 per head for pupils in Primary 4 to Primary 6 and Ghc5.00 for pupils in Junior High Schools.

But some headteachers levied the fees on the pupils since they could not find the resources to print the questions on credit.

Source:Starrfm.com.gh