The Union also urged government to give priority to the payment of critical support for some staff of the Ghana Education Service and issues relating to the proper placement of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the Colleges of Education, to reflect the new degree awarding status of such institutions.

This was in a statement signed by Mr Augustine Saakuur Karbo, the General Secretary of TEWU and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

“We have dialogued, consulted and engaged enough and also petitioned the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on the critical support for some staff of the Ghana Education, yet there was no positive result.

“We hope these issues will be resolved soonest, because we will not take any explanation or excuses for inaction regarding these outstanding concerns,” the statement added. TEWU however commended the teaching and non-teaching staff, for going the extra mile in ensuring the successful implementation of government’s Double Track policy under the free Senior High School system.

The statement said, “As a union, TEWU appreciates government’s employment opportunities in the Ghana Education Service.  “We call for the process to be fast-tack for employment of non-teaching staff into the public universities, Technical Universities/Polytechnics, Colleges of Education because of high numbers of vacancies, due to retirement, resignation and death”.

According to the statement filling such vacancies was very urgent so that the institutions can have their full staff strength for both academic and non-academic work, calling for an innovative way to overcome the delays around the clearance for employment.  Touching on the State of Tier-Two Pension Fund, TEWU called for prudent investments of the fund, for members to benefit from the pension monies when they retire from 2020 January onwards.

He expressed concerns over the decision by the government to change the service providers which had become a tussle between the new service providers and those who are exiting, which the Union believe was not a good sign for the pension industry in the country. “We trust that the governance issues surrounding pensions and related transitions from one service provider to the other, will be done smoothly, so that it will not unnecessarily interrupt the funds operations and the investments, and can lead to drop or cut down in profit of members,” the statement said.

According to the statement, TEWU would work diligently under the laws of the Pensions Regulatory Authority Act, to ensure that the pension funds are safe.  “This we will do by getting all these lingering issues addressed so that the funds administrator will work towards accurate and credible data base of contributors and help in calculating the benefits for each member and the associated profit that will yield out of the investments,” TEWU stated. 

The Union expressed worry about the politics and the struggle that characterized the delay in releasing the tier-two pension fund to fund managers of the labour unions. It therefore resolved not to allow politics to ruin the investment or the smooth governance of the tier-two pension funds under the Ghana Education Service Occupational pension scheme.