The pre-tertiary Teacher Unions have expressed their dissatisfaction over the non-payment of deductions by the government to the Ghana Education Service Occupational Pension Scheme (GESOPS).
GESOPS is a Tier-2 pension scheme registered and regulated by the National Pensions Regulatory Authority under the Pensions Act, 2008, (Act 766) as amended.
The Scheme’s membership is drawn from employees of the Ghana Education Service, with members belonging to one of the Unions in the educational sector.
The unions are the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the Coalition of Concern Teachers, Ghana (CCT-GH), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU)
According to the unions, the last payment from Controller and Accountant General’s Department to their Pension scheme was that of March 2022 which was paid on January 23, 2023.
This means there are nine months of outstanding arrears.
A statement issued by the unions said using the contribution of March 2022 as a basis contributions of members of the Scheme in arrears are about GH¢433 million.
“In light of the above, we the Unions in Pre-Tertiary Education, wish to state emphatically that if by the end of February 2023, all the arrears are not paid, we have no other option than as the first line of action, take the necessary steps to ensure that the Regulator’s, (National Pensions Regulatory Authority, NPRA) fees are not paid effective March 2023,” the teachers threatened.
Below is the full statement