The Teacher’s Reward Is No More in Heaven

October 1, 2010

Gone are the days when teachers might be taunted with the absurd statement that their reward is in heaven. 

The ongoing industrial action by members of UTAG and POTAG reveals the cluelessness of our national leaders. It confirms that our leaders don't learn anything from history to avoid the mistakes of the past whose negative effects are still undermining our development. It reinforces fears that our national leaders don't know how to do politics to enhance our democracy.

Finally, the industrial action exposes the folly of the government and will definitely turn whatever goodwill it has in the ranks of UTAG/POTAG into hemlock that will deliver a devastating blow to its political fortunes at the 2012 polls. 

Members of UTAG have been on strike for two weeks now. Their counterparts at the polytechnics (POTAG) have laid down their tools for a longer period and have had no hearing from government.

Frustrated by the crisis, students of the universities have threatened to take to the streets to express disgust at the government's “poor handling” of the UTAG issue and to solidarize with their teachers.

Their counterparts at the polytechnics did not only bare their teeth or flex their muscles for its own sake but they also physically demonstrated their bitterness on their polytechnic campuses, complaining against the selective manner in which the government was approaching the UTAG/POTAG industrial action.

They accused President Mills of favouring UTAG (which he had met at the Castle, Osu) to the disadvantage of POTAG and decried the government's attitude, labeling it as “education racism.” 

By its appalling attitude to tackling problems before they degenerate into industrial actions of this sort, the government is swiftly making enemies for itself. Even its friends in the ranks of UTAG/POTAG (not to mention the thousands of students and non-teaching staff adversely affected by this strike action) are fast becoming embittered and disaffected. Such people can't avoid becoming political opponents. 

The government seems to have boxed itself into a tight corner and will, undoubtedly, join its predecessors as a failure in this regard. It doesn't seem to be providing the incentives for redressing grievances. Instead, it seems to be following in the deplorable footsteps of its predecessors.

There is no immediate indication that the impasse will be resolved soon to normalize the situation in these tertiary institutions or to avert any recurrence in future.

This replaying of the bad-blood relationship between these labour unions (UTAG and POTAG) and the government-of-the-day confirms my fears that no matter which crop of people constitute the Government of Ghana, the perennial problems that have all along drawn our country back will continue to torment us. 

Strike actions by UTAG, POTAG, GNAT, NAGRAT, Teachers and Education Workers Union (TEWU), and the Federation of University Senior Staff Association (FUSSAG) are not new. Our educational institutions have always suffered the negative backlash of such industrial actions.

Let's not forget the doctors (Ghana Medical Association), nurses, paramedical staff, Civil Servants Association, and all other categories of organized labour that depend on the central government for remuneration.

They are also an integral part of this pattern of industrial action. Sadly, nobody in authority over the years seems to know what to do to decisively solve problems that necessitate such industrial actions.

Since time out of mind, every government that we've had has failed to do things in a manner to reassure Ghanaians that it can solve problems. No year passes by without a re-enactment of what we are currently being subjected to at the UTAG and POTAG fronts.

Some may perceive these organized labour groups as too insistent on industrial action as a measure to win the battle of nerves. Others may see strike actions as a justifiable trump card. And they know how to play it if their initial warning signals through teeth-baring antics don't yield the expected results.

The teachers deserve credit for, at least, being conscientious enough to forewarn the government of their intended industrial action and asking that their demands be met to avoid it. The buck stops at the feet of the government whose intransigence and lack of foresight leaves the teachers with no other option but recourse to industrial action.

It is not to say that the demands being made by the teachers are outrageous or that they are not entitled to the benefits of their profession. They deserve more than they've been given over the years. But our politicians seem not to recognize that fact. The institution of an annual “Teachers' Awards Day” isn't the panacea to the endemic problems that our teachers face nor will it curb the agitations for better conditions of service.

That facility is limited in scope and ridiculous in implementation. At best, it is just a mere smokescreen behind which the politicians hide to manipulate the system to advantage.

This annual ritual of withdrawal of services by the country's professionals to press home their demand for better conditions of service seems to have been accepted as the fait accompli. Every government hardens itself at the initial stages when threats are issued by the professionals until they actualize such threats.

Then, the government bends back to give them pittance and project itself as “caring.” This piecemeal approach to handling serious national problems confirms claims that our leaders are more daft than so far perceived to be. 

Here are some clear examples spanning the past 38 years of our wretchedness as a nation. Under Kutu Acheampong, such problems were a constant reminder of the waywardness of his government. In the era of Rawlings' P/NDC, the professionals went on strike to demand attention to their plight.

The situation didn't change under Kufuor nor has it under the watch of President Mills. That this UTAG/POTAG strike action has occurred under the government of President Mills is crucial for our understanding of the uselessness of our mechanisms for resolving conflicts. 

Ironically, when he was teaching at the University of Ghana, President Mills had been a member of UTAG who took part in the agitations for better service conditions and can't now tell us that he doesn't know that lack of sensitivity on the part of officialdom is a major cause of the problem.

He knows what engenders the strike action by teachers' groups and the analogous institutions on whose shoulders the education system hangs. What President Mills and his government don't know is how to solve the problem.

We can recall that he touted his personal experiences as a university teacher and sought to create the impression that under a government led by him, strike actions by teachers to back their demands for better service conditions would be a thing of the past.

He made high-sounding promises to change the situation for the better. He insisted on political platforms that his government would satisfy teachers, especially, and neutralize any impetus for strike actions. Unfortunately, the reverse has occurred. 

Despite his damage control efforts (by interacting with the leadership of UTAG and appealing to their conscience against the strike action), nothing positive seems to be emerging.

Instead, the dark clouds are thickening further while the government looks for baseless and irritating explanations to massage people's feelings. 

Lecturers at the University of Ghana have reduced his intervention to absurdity. News reports have it that they have refused to return to the classroom despite a directive from the University authorities to do so.

The directive, which was issued on Tuesday, had “implored the lectures to end their two weeks-long strike and return to the classroom.” For whatever it might be, such a directive won't wash with UTAG.

Dr Walter Affo, the Secretary to the Legon Branch of UTAG, said a final decision would be made by the National Executive Committee of UTAG because “it will be unconstitutional for UTAG Legon to unilaterally return to the classroom. The decision to embark on the strike was taken by seven out of eight campuses and there has to be a unanimous decision to end the strike.”

This categorical repudiation of the directive indicates that the crisis will persist until the government meets UTAG's demands or until something happens to soften UTAG's stance. Then, in the traditional piecemeal and ad hoc approach, it will turn to POTAG too.

As will be true to the existing pattern, as soon as the UTAG/POTAG crisis is resolved (even if superficially), another group will emerge to bare its teeth and withdraw services until the government meets its demands.

The cycle will run until the government makes enemies of all those constituencies who would otherwise have been its allies had it found long-lasting solutions to their problems. That's the kind of situation into which our clueless leaders have herded us. We are stuck in this labyrinth of nothingness because our leaders lack vision.

While this impasse drags on, those who are expected to speak for the voiceless UTAG/POTAG (or, indeed, any other group of Ghanaians who work hard but don't get their labour's worth) are looking inward and cushioning themselves with salary increment and other packages for an enhanced life style.

I have in mind our Parliamentarians who, despite all the undue privileges they already enjoy, have proved once again how insatiable and ungrateful they are to the tax-payers. They've just been given a 20% salary raise and will be laughing all the way to the bank on pay-day.

These Parliamentarians are just like the sea—all rivers empty into the sea; three quarters of all the rain that falls on the earth enters the sea; yet, the sea is never so full as to reject any new water that enters it! They may be salivating at the good news; but those who know better will not enthuse over it.

Left in the hands of these self-seeking people in charge of affairs, Ghana stands to suffer more damage. There is little hope that anything is being done to improve the living conditions in the country. Or to drastically change the approach to solving national problems.

Indeed, one may not be far from right to say that under the existing state apparatus and considering the entrenched slipshod manner in which government business is done, nothing drastically positive can be achieved to change the paradigm for a brighter future. Ghana's plight threatens to be permanent.

What a pity that a country so endowed with immense natural and human resources should be reduced to its knees by visionless people at the helm of affairs!