The leadership of the National Union of Ghana Students has taken notice of the strike action of the Teachers Unions in protest against the appointment of an Acting Director General of the Ghana Education Service.
The union in our initial response want to state:
- We appreciate the right of the unions to disagree with decisions by government and management.
- Whiles at that, we also believe that students must not be made to suffer the
consequences of every disagreement or impasse.
- We want to at this point call on our dear Teachers to reconsider their strike action and pursue other means of expressing their dissent, holding that the strike action turns students into victims of actions they have no control over. We are ultimately not being taught because the leadership of our teachers disagree with who to head the Service.
- The union takes cognizance of the structure of GES and its mandate towards TEACHING STAFF, NON TEACHING STAFF, STUDENTS and POLICY FORMULATION, and encourages a consensus building approach in the expression of dissent by any of the stakeholders.
- As students, we do not want to go into the merits of the appointment of the Director General since we believe the laws and best practices especially, The Ghana Education Service Act clearly states the procedures and regulations of such appointments and hence reference should be made in such instances.
We will want to conclude by encouraging all parties, especially Teachers and
Government to kindly take steps to protect the young students of this country. We cannot continue to make students the easiest casualties of every disagreement.
