Teacher unions go on strike over new GES DG appointment

Pre-tertiary education teacher unions have declared a nationwide industrial action following the government’s decision not to terminate the contract of Dr Eric Nkansah acting as the Director-General of Ghana Education Service (GES).

The nationwide strike action comes after the unions citing discrimination against teachers gave the central government a November 4, 2022 deadline to relieve of duty Mr Eric Nkansah who according to them is not an educationist.

In a statement copied to AcademicWeek, the teachers said “we have decided to embark on a strike from November 4, 2022. We are informing the public that we are withdrawing our services in all pre-tertiary education institutions.”

With 17 Educationists appointed Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) since 1974 to date, the pre-tertiary unions say Dr Eric Nkansah with a banking background is not qualified to manage education in the country.

“It must be stated that the Director-General position is preserved for Educationists and has been occupied by Educationists since 1974 to date. 17 Director-Generals have been appointed to serve at GES,” the unions stated.

In line with the teacher unions, the Executive Director of the Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS), Mr Enoch Kwasi Gyetuah has said the appointment of Dr Eric Nkansah as GES Director-General violates Education Act.

In a discussion with an Editorial Staff of AcademicWeek.com, the National Private Schools Council said Mr Eric’s appointment violates the Education Standards and is also in contravention of teacher professionalism.

“This is in total violation of the educational standards and also in contravention of teacher professionalism as long as Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 ( Act 1023) is concerned,” Obenfo Gyetuah told AcademicWeek.com.

The 41-year-old banker and lecturer of the Kumasi Technical University joined the Ministry of Education (MoE) in April 2021 on secondment from the Kumasi Technical University, where he served as a Senior Lecturer for about 8 years.

Dr Eric Nkansah was appointed the Ghana Education Service (GES) Director-General by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo late this year to replace Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa who served from 2017 to 2022.

He holds a PhD in Financial Economics from the University of Zululand, South Africa, a Master of Business Administration (Finance) from KNUST Business School, Ghana, and B. A (Hons) Economics from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana.