Education Specialist Divine Kpe has described the ongoing teachers’ strike as legitimate, arguing that teachers’ welfare concerns must be addressed despite the disruption to teaching and learning.
Speaking to Joshua Kodjo Mensah on Morning Starr on Starr FM, Divine Kpe said he was equally concerned about the loss of contact hours between teachers and learners, particularly because the new academic year had only recently begun.
He warned that even a single day away from school could have an impact on learners, making the nearly two-week disruption a significant concern for education stakeholders.
Divine Kpe said the recent alignment of the academic calendar, which allows the various levels of the education sector to operate within the same academic year, must also be protected.
However, he stressed that concerns over lost instructional time should not overshadow the welfare issues confronting teachers.
He said teachers had raised their concerns for a long time and had engaged the relevant authorities on several of the issues now at the centre of the strike.
According to him, some agreements had already been reached, including issues relating to automatic placement and corresponding salary adjustments, but subsequent developments had created disagreements over implementation.
Divine Kpe also pointed to concerns surrounding teachers’ collective agreement and the 20% underserved-area allowance, arguing that these issues had remained unresolved despite previous engagements.
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He said teachers therefore had legitimate grounds to demand action from government.
“Their strike, if you ask me, is very legitimate. It’s not that they haven’t sounded their alarm bell for so long. They have sounded their alarm bell for so long.”
He called for a resolution that protects both teachers’ welfare and learners’ access to uninterrupted education, stressing that the two concerns should not be treated as mutually exclusive.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh/Pamela Quayson
