4 Reasons Current GES Director General Is Perfectly Doing Well
Current Director General of GES
4 Reasons Current GES Director General Is Perfectly Doing Well
The Ministry of Education (MoE) appointed the current Director General in November 2022. The appointment caused a lot of upheaval among teachers and their union leaders for several reasons. However, the current GES Director General, Dr. Eric Nkansah, is doing perfectly well based on some developments in the education space.
The reasons teachers and their union were against the appointment of the current Director General was stated by the unions as the fact that the new Director-General is not an educationist. Even though the teachers’ and union leaders were unable to specify clearly why the new Director-General is not an educationist, the unions were able to mobilize their members to embark on an industrial strike. The purpose of the strike then was to force the hand of the employer to revoke the appointment of Dr. Nkansah as the acting Director-General. Meanwhile, the employer also insisted it has the ultimate responsibility to determine who it employs into any position. Dr. Nkansah was finally confirmed as the substantive Director-General of the Ghana Education Service.
Apart from the arguments that Dr. Eric Nkansah is not an educationist and so could not occupy the position he was appointed to. There were other speculated reasons why he was appointed in the first place. The new Director-General was accused of being a “goro boy” to the Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum. The accusations were probably Dr. Nkansah worked at the ministry of education as the director in charge of tertiary education. A position he assumed after the current minister was appointed.
Another basis for the disapproval of Dr. Nkansah as the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service was the manner in which the predecessor was removed from office. The letter used to sack the former Director-General was used as a yardstick to argue the point that the new Director-General could not have been appointed as such. This point was very well articulated by the president of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Angel Carbonu.
New Director-General Doing Well?
Under a space of three (3) months after the appointment of the current Director General, some remarkable successes have been recorded. Some of the successes were a headache for a lot of teachers over many years. The issues, which were mainly financial and intrinsic, have the ability to motivate or demotivate teachers in the course of doing their work.
First and foremost, teachers do not have to pay middlemen to forward their documents to Accra for the purposes of upgrading or processing responsibility allowance. In December 2023, the Director-General ordered a compilation of names of staff who were qualified for responsibility allowance, upgrading and salary adjustment. Within a space of two (2) weeks, regional Directors were able to compile the list through their district offices for onward forwarding to the Director-General. The cost for individual teachers travelling to Accra to submit their documents or the cost of paying their local officers to forward their documents have all been saved. This practice can only be referred to an efficient Director-General.
Secondly, and true to his words, some teachers were upgraded or have their responsibility allowance affected in their payslips. Lots of teachers have been performing various extra responsibility duties without enjoying the appropriate remuneration that comes with it. However, it appears the coming into office by the new GES Director-General has saved them from loss of income.
Thirdly, within three (3) months of assuming office, an advertisement was released for the promotion of junior ranked officers in the Ghana Education Service. Previously, teachers in some districts did not even have an idea whenever promotion processes were ongoing. Teachers stay in their junior ranks for years without any idea when they will be promoted. However, with the announcement of an opportunity for junior rank promotion, it is clear the trend is about to change.
Lastly, as our team has observed, the current GES Director General will be a listening person who will promptly address issues raised. This observation comes from the fact that the new Director-General quickly released a circular to direct all Directors to stop all mass transfers ongoing in their jurisdictions. The circular to stop the transfers was issued less than a week after the Western Region chapter of GNAT (Ghana National Association of Teachers) held a press conference to address the situation where directors in the region were transferring staff indiscriminately without recourse to the fact that it is not easy to re-settle after settling at a place. The said circular from the Director-General actually saves the day for teachers in the Western Region.
In conclusion, though it is still early days, the current Director General is proving to be on top of his work and solving issues that hitherto were impossible. The new GES Director-General in three (3) months managed to collate a list of teachers who were entitled to different remunerations and some of those teachers actually got paid. The new Director-General is able to respond to issues raised by a section of teachers within a week. He has also signaled to junior rank teachers that they will not be forgotten in the scheme of things.
Credit: ges.gov.gh
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