The strike action by the teacher unions has the tendency to widen the already existing gap between the private and public schools in the country, Alhaji Dasaana N. S. Adamu, the Upper West Regional Secretary, Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS), has said.
He maintained that “the private schools are already miles ahead of the public schools”, and expressed fear that the strike could further widen the gap.
Alhaji Adamu, who was the Proprietor of the Bomandi Preparatory School in Wa, said this in an interview with Info Radio in Wa in relation to the ongoing nation-wide strike by the pre-tertiary teacher unions.
“As long as these teachers are at home, their counterpart at the private schools are in school teaching and so the gap is widening.
“As the school children at the public schools are roaming in the gutters and on the bola as their teachers are on strike, their counterparts in the private schools are in school receiving normal teaching and learning”, he explained.
He said though the action would impact negatively on the education of the children in public schools, the concerns of the teachers were legitimate which the government ought to address.
He cited the rising cost of fuel and its rippling effects on the cost of basic life necessities such as food as a major concern the government had to address saying, “Teachers are one of the groups that is least listened to.”
“It [the strike] is not just an accidental thing. It is not a sporadic thing. They did not just get up one day and decide to go on strike, they followed the steps but the government failed to listen to them”, he explained.
The educational entrepreneur, therefore, stressed the urgent need for all stakeholders in the education sector to put in concerted efforts to improve the sector.
Alhaji Adamu, who was a former District Chief Executive (DCE) of the Wa West District, observed that the workers within the educational sector had been unfairly treated by the government over the years.
Meanwhile, some students in Wa said the ongoing strike would have a negative impact on them, especially as some of the students were preparing for their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
Some students at the Tendanba Junior High School said they needed the guidance and assistance of the teachers at the school to learn and appealed to the government to settle its disparities with the teachers for them to return to the schools as soon as possible.
Some teacher unions in the country declared a joint nationwide sit-down strike effective Monday, July 4, 2022, following the failure of the government to meet their demand of paying them Cost of Living Allowance (CoLA).