New GES Boss is a Pupil Teacher, He can’t lead us ~ Teacher Unions

The three striking Teacher Unions say the newly appointed Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr. Eric Nkansah is a non-professional pupil teacher.

This comes on the back of the National Labour Commission (NLC) directing the three striking teacher unions to immediately call off their strike after negotiations with the Ministry of Education ended inconclusively.

The Unions on November 4, 2022 declared a nation-wide strike action over the failure of the government to meet the deadline to terminate the appointment of Mr. Nkansah.

However, the NLC held that the teacher unions did not follow the right procedures for their strike actions.

But, Speaking on Starr Today with Naa Dede Tetteh Wednesday, the Communication Officer for CCT-Gh, King Ali Awudu stated that it will not be prudent to allow the new GES boss to lead them.

According to him, the mere fact that Mr. Nkansah has thought before does not make him a professional as argued by the Minister for Education.

“What we are saying is that the one who will employ these people who are professionals and have been licensed by the National Teaching Council, he himself is not a professional. But he is going to employ a professional because when you look at the Pre-tertiary Education Act he is the one going to employ.

“He is the one who will promote, discipline and he is the one who can dismiss even head teachers and teachers. Yet he himself is not a professional. So which criteria is he going to use to dismiss or to promote? Because he doesn’t even understand what I am doing, he is not a professional,” Mr. Awudu stated.

He continued: “It will not be prudent for us to allow a pupil teacher or a non-professional as we call them. Formerly we call them pupil teachers, to come and take charge of professional teachers, how?”

The Communication Officer said the fact that somebody enters the classroom does not make him or her a professional teacher.

“That is why when you come to Ghana Education Service we call them pupil teachers and for them they are not even promoted beyond Assistant Director Two. Now you are saying that one of them is to come and supervise professional teachers,” he queried.