MoE defends GES post-retirement contract appointment
The Ministry of Education (MoE) following the post-retirement contract extension of Deputy Director-General of Ghana Education Service, Anthony Boateng says the decision was solely taken by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
A spokesperson for the Ministry, Kwasi Kwarteng in a post sighted by AcademicWeek said is not within the scope of any union to oppose Akufo-Addo’s appointment and subsequent approval of who heads whatsoever institution.
“At no point should any union become so brave & powerful as to order its members to disregard the directives of Presidential appointees. That in extension amounts to gross disrespect to the President of the land,” Kwarteng stated.
The Ministry’s spokesman in the social media post added that “Whilst unionists are right in protecting and furthering the welfare of their members, they are not right in deciding which government appointee they want to work with.”
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) comment comes after teacher unions (GNAT, NAGRAT, TEWU & CCT-GH) called on Mr Anthony Boateng to decline the term of office contract extension offer from Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
“The Unions in Pre-Tertiary Education having assessed the situation and concerns, call on the former GES Deputy Director-General, Anthony Boateng to respectfully decline the offer from the President and the Ministry of Education.
We also call on the Director-General of GES to direct all retired persons in the Ghana Education Service to hand over immediately to the next in line and proceed with their compulsory retirement,” the unions stated in a joint release.
The Pre-Tertiary Education unions say if by September 30, 2022, all due to retire staff of the Ghana Education Service (GES) are still at post, it would advise members to disregard directives issued by those individuals or officials.
The teachers’ resentment comes after President Akufo-Addo at the request of the Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum approved a one-year service contract extension for Anthony Boateng in charge of GES Management Service.
A letter from His Excellency’s Office to the Sector Minister in charge of Education stated the request for the 60-year-old Deputy Director-General (Management Service) Anthony Boateng to serve for another year has been granted.
“You have a further one-year contract of service as Deputy Director-General (Management Services) of the Ghana Education Service, effective 17h August 2022 to 16h August 2023
It is expected that during this period of extension, you will continue in your current role and assist in the development of the National Education Institute as approved” a letter to Anthony Boateng and copied to AcademicWeek.com stated.
