TEWU Expresses Worry Over Ghana Partnership School Project

By Kingsley Asare

The Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) has expressed concern about the decision of the government to hand over the management of some public schools to private managers under the Ghana Partnership School (GPS) project.

The Acting General Secretary of TEWU, Mark Dankyira Korankye who raised the qualms at the 12 Quadrennial National Delegates Conference in Kumasi on Saturday said the government should rather resource the public schools to make them function like private schools.

It was on the theme "60 Years of TEWU's contribution to the development of equitable, inclusive and quality education delivery in Ghana."

Under the GPS, the government is handing over some selected 100 public schools across the country to private operators to manage.

"We are not oppose to having private school operators but we are opposed to the idea that resources would be made available to such private operators to enable them make their profits in the name of managing our educational system," Mr Korankye said.

He said the government needed to invest massively in public schools through the improvement of infrastructure and human capital if it wants to see improvement in the managing of public schools.

Mr Korankye entreated the government to expand the existing infrastructure at the various public tertiary institutions across the country to be able to absorb the increasing number of Senior High Schools graduates who would be coming out in 2020.

"The private tertiary institutions must also be supported in a way to expand and be able to increase their intake and improve their service delivery for the total benefit of the nation," he said.

Turning his focus on the conditions of service of the members of TEWU, Mr Korankye urged the government through the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to expedite action on the various conditions of service of its members.

That, he said, would ensure industrial peace and harmony at the various work places, stressing that there is also the need to look at salary levels of our members, especially those in the lower brackets so they can also earn a decent salary.

Mr Korankye said the implementation of the free Senior High School had brought enormous workload on members of TEWU; they were not being compensated for that.

"The complementary roles played by TEWU can best be described as the "black and white keys on the pianos that collectively produce good music despite their differences in colour. One key cannot function in isolation without the complementary sound of the other so is TEWU in the space of the education sector in the country," he said, adding that "cleaners ensure that students live in good hygienic environment devoid of sickness and diseases."

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