We’II boycott 2024 elections if our issues are not addressed – Teachers

The National Council of Private Teachers intends to boycott the 2024 general elections if the government fails to address their challenges.

The Executive Director of the Council noted that the government must introduce a regulation or policy framework to improve private education and the welfare of their workers.

‘’The various policies being rolled out by the government do not include private schools. The implementation of STEM does not include private schools. Public schools enjoy a lot of privileges when it comes to school placement. When they implemented the free SHS policy, they ignored private schools. We have been ignored in all aspects of every single policy in the education sector. What broke the camel’s back was when COVID-19 hit Ghana and schools were closed.

“Teachers in private schools were ignored. Several of our members lost their jobs. So we have concluded that successive governments have failed us and do not value our contributions in the education sector. Private school owners are struggling. We therefore want leaders to roll out a framework that will enhance the private school sector,” he noted in an interview monitored by The Ghana Report on Rainbow Radio.

He also expressed concerns about the hiring and employment of teachers, which typically favoured graduates from colleges of education over university graduates.

‘’We will therefore advise all graduates from our universities who have not been placed as teachers not to waste their time voting. It is not important to vote because they do not value our efforts. That is what we are proposing. We will not participate in the general elections. The painful aspect is that we pay GHC 550 for the licensure exams, and when you fail, you would have to pay again to take the exams. How can one progress in a country like Ghana? So we will not vote this year. We will boycott the elections, and until the President engages us, we will not participate. They should employ our members. We have given them until November to address our challenges,’’ he added.