The Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union, TEWU of TUC-Ghana has called on the Ministry of Finance to issue financial clearance for the recruitment of non-teaching staff in educational institutions to accommodate the high number of students.
The union emphasizes that the current workforce in these institutions is overstretched due to the annual influx of students.
“Comrades, another issue we want to draw attention to, on this May Day, is the shortages of non-teaching staff, and the urgent need to recruit more staff. With the government’s flagship FREE Senior High School programme, enrolment has gone up putting pressure on the non-teaching personnel.
The shortage of staff is making our members overwork themselves, which comes with the attendant health challenges. We call on the Ministry of Finance to as a matter of urgency, issue financial clearance for the recruitment of more non-teaching staff to fill the ever-increasing vacancies in the various educational institutions”.
The appeal was made in a statement issued by the General Secretary of the union King James Azortibah as part of the May Day Celebrations.
The union also called on the government to urgently pay all outstanding Tier Two arrears to its fund managers.
“TEWU of TUC-Ghana, therefore join hands with other labour unions, to demand that government pay without further delays, all Tier-2 deductions and related arrears and penalties to the fund managers without fail.
“Any further delays in imbursing Fund Managers with the Tier-2 deductions, means, the government is short-changing Ghanaian workers concerning the pension, especially, return on investment. Is that how to treat people who have worked hard to keep the economy and other social development agenda of the country on course, all their working life?”
Mr. Azortibah also bemoaned the continuous use of fuelwood for kitchen staff taking into consideration the health hazards that come with it.
Given this, the union has called on the government to engage with “social partners, to deploy modern cooking gadgets to schools to reduce the burden of stress in cooking for large numbers in the schools”.
