Atik Mohammed To Teachers: Continue Strike Action Until Govt. Settle Your Issue

A Policy Analyst of the People�s National Convention (PNC), Atik Mohammed has supported the decision taken by the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the National Association of Teachers (GNAT) to go on strike to seek redress over their collective agreement which has expired for the past three years. �Continue striking until they settle your issue,�he said; adding that the working class must be taken care of because they deserve to have their share of the national cake which according to him President Mahama and the NDC government are squandering. Speaking on the �Ghana Decides� program on OKAY FM, Atik Mohammed said that President Mahama and the NDC government have lavished the economy; in that the teachers are not demanding much except their little allowances and their collective agreement which for the past three years have expired. According to the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU), results in the final examination have been cancelled in the past because of poor supervision. In view of this, Atik Mohammed stated that if under teachers results were cancelled, then the situation would be worse if watchmen, labourers, drivers, pantry men and women are used to invigilate the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE); stressing that this is a clear indication that the situation would be serious if not resolved. He hinted that surprisingly, the committee which was set up by President Mahama to settle the arrears and allowances issues under the chairmanship of the Chief of Staff, Prosper Bani has never met and according to him President Mahama has never asked why they never met, because he (President Mahama) does not care about the teachers. He further recounted that the only language the NDC government understood was strike. He however inquired that; �if the President can secure sponsorship for pastors to travel to Israel, why can�t he secure sponsorship for the teachers� arrears,� adding that a critical situation such as this needs proper negotiations. He therefore said that the Presidency as at last year spent Ghc600m in excess and to him if this government was bent on settling the teachers� arrears, they could have paid all the three years outstanding arrears. He alleged that government has intentionally decided not pay because it has no faith in the teachers.