Aug 31, 2017
The Ghana Education Service (GES) has proposed the introduction of a computerised system for staff promotion to enhance the process of promotions for public sector teachers.
The GES believes an automated system would help to address the cumbersome nature of the present promotion system in the education sector.
Professor Kwasi Opoku Amankwa, Director General of the Service, who announced the proposal said it would assist in checking the bureaucracies in the approval of the promotion of teachers as well as other categories of workers under GES.
“As we go into the future, I want us to engage ourselves in looking at our module and processes of promotion, should it not be possible for us. For example, to develop some online promotional programme which when you take, and you pass, immediately your letter comes out with my signature on it,” Prof. Amankwa suggested.
He said this at the 12th National Delegates’ Conference of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) in Kumasi, “if the programme secured the approval from the GES Council, there would be no need to constitute panels for promotion interviews.”
The three day National Delegate’s Conference was under the theme, “Implementing free quality education in Ghana: the nuances of the transition.”
Prof. Amankwa`s suggestion comes in the wake of concerns raised by the association over the delays in promotions in the educational sector.
The President of NAGRAT, Christian Addai-Poku, expressing concern about the delays, appealed to the government to, as a matter of urgency, issue out promotional letters of participants for the 2016 promotional interviews and also set dates for that of 2017.
MrAddai-Poku said, “up till now, those promoted in 2016 have still not received their promotional letters. In the same vein, the 2017 interview has still not been conducted, never again will we allow promotions to delay”.
Stating the stance of NAGRAT on the teacher licensing and appraisal, MrAddai-Poku explained that NAGRAT was not against the teacher licensing policy but was against the agenda of pushing the cost of licensing and in-service training as well as continuous professional development on its members.
However, he stated that until the outstanding issues regarding the policy are resolved, “teachers cannot and will not be part of the implementation process”.
Nii Adotey/www.adrdaily.com
