Newly recruited teachers from the 2024 cohort say their decision to stage a peaceful picketing at the headquarters of the Ghana Education Service (GES) was driven by months of frustration and what they describe as repeated failed attempts to secure engagement with management.
The group gathered on Wednesday to demand the issuance of their Staff Identification Numbers and the payment of outstanding salaries and allowances, insisting the protest became necessary after efforts to seek dialogue yielded no results.
The teachers said they have worked for 14 months without pay due to delays in processing and releasing their staff IDs since 2024.
They explained that all required documents were duly submitted to their respective District and Regional Directors, but follow-ups revealed that the documents had been forwarded to the national office for processing.
Speaking on Adom FM Dwaso Nsem, the group’s leader, Daniel Aidoo, said they had tried on several occasions to meet the Director-General, Prof. Ernest Davies, but were unsuccessful.
“We have tried to seek audience with the GES Director General, Prof. Ernest Davies, but to no avail. Nobody is telling us anything,” he stated.
According to him, attempts to formally request meetings were often met with responses indicating that the Director-General was unavailable.
“We have not been permitted. We are either told he is not available,” he said.
Mr Aidoo further alleged that some officials were unwilling to engage the group at all.
“Some people don’t even want to see our face and, at a point, even sack us. So we suspected there was something fishy going on,” he claimed.
He explained that the picketing was intended to draw national attention to their concerns rather than disrupt operations.
“That was why we decided to embark on the peaceful picketing on Wednesday to let Ghanaians and all relevant stakeholders know our plight,” he added.
Meanwhile, GES management has previously indicated that validation processes and systemic challenges are being addressed, but the teachers maintain that clearer communication and direct engagement are urgently needed to resolve the impasse.
Source: adomonline.com
