Salary Arrears Of Teachers Ready February Ending

Teachers who have been re-engaged by the Ghana Education Service (GES) are to begin receiving their salaries by the end of February this year. Newly engaged teachers and teachers who have been upgraded but are still receiving their old salaries will also receive their new salaries by February ending. This follows an assurance given to the GES by the consultants working on the Integrated Personnel Payroll Database (IPPD) III at the Controller and Accountant General�s Department. The Head of Public Relations of the GES, Charles Parker-Allotey, who disclosed this in an interview, said the �GES has given out all the inputs for the rectification of the problem associated with outstanding salaries of staff.� The teachers, he said, included those who were re-engaged, upgraded and newly engaged teachers. The re-engaged teachers comprise those who went for further studies without pay but came back and have been re-engaged; the upgraded teachers are those moving from a lower level to a higher level, while the newly recruited teachers are those who were engaged within the last year. Mr. Parker-Allotey said the GES staff at the IPPD Section worked the whole Monday night to address the problem of outstanding salaries. The Head of Salaries, Terms and Conditions of Service at GNAT, Mr. Benjamin K. Osei, confirmed the information from the GES that the outstanding salaries would be effected at the end of February. �My understanding is that they are supposed to be paid by the end of February,� he said. He said the historical records of the affected teachers which were previously on IPPD II could not be sent to IPPD III because the teachers� appointments were terminated when they left for further studies without the approval of the GES. The IPPD III, he said, had now been modified to take care of those people and expressed the hope that by the end of February they should get their salaries. Some of the affected teachers who had their re-engagement at different times welcomed the news of getting paid at least, although they were cautiously optimistic. The period of non-payment of salaries, they said, ranged from seven months to over one year. The teachers, who said they had been to the GES Headquarters on many occasions, noted that they had not been successful in getting their salaries paid, saying anytime they went there, they were told that the consultants on the IPPD had not factored the re-engaged teachers onto the payroll. Two of them, Samuel Kwakye and Emelia Tutu, expressed the hope that their salaries would come at the end of February. �I am hearing the information from you,� Emelia said when this reporter broke the good news to her. Another affected teacher, Carl Agbenyega Adogla, who called at the offices of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), told Daily Graphic, �We are getting frustrated over the turn of events because we cannot work without salary.� Such a situation, he said, was demotivating and would have an effect on academic work. Without our salaries and pay slips we cannot even access loans,� he said. Asked whether he notified his mother association, he responded in the affirmative.