<<Print>>

Ghanaians will know by the close of work on Monday, March 25, 2013 if striking teachers will end their week-old industrial action or not. This follows a decision by the leadership of teacher unions to consult their various councils on calls by the government for teachers to end their strike after a meeting with a government team yesterday. A communiqu� issued at the end of a meeting of all the key players in the sector yesterday said �all the parties agreed that substantial progress has been made in addressing all the issues of concern, except the teachers� retention premium�. It said it was further agreed that the retention premium was to be the subject of further discussions from Monday, March 25, 2013. It said it was based on the progress made that the government urged the teacher unions to call off their strike to provide a congenial atmosphere for further discussions. The communiqu� was signed by the Chairman of the Public Services Commission, Mrs Bridget Katsriku; the Director, Grievances & Negotiations of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, Mr Cornelius Yawson; the Chief Director of the Ministry of Education, Mr Enoch H. Cobbinah, and Dr Mawuli Gaddah, Real Sector Division, Ministry of Finance. Others were Mr Charles Aheto-Tsegah, the Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Education Service; Mr M. V. V. K. Demanya, the Deputy General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT); Mr Christian Addai-Poku, the National President of GNAT, and Mr Raymond Boakye Darkwa, the General Secretary of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers. It explained that the main outstanding issues of concern to the teachers, which were identified at yesterday�s meeting, were the payment of car maintenance allowance, the payment of yearly incremental credit, the promotion of teachers, the retention premium and WAEC supervision and invigilation allowance.