Finance Minister directs Accountant-General to pay 15% of basic salary to GES staff
Dr Kwabena Duffuor, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, has directed that with immediate effect, 15 per cent of the basic salary of staff in certain job classes in the Ghana Education Service (GES) should be paid.
Accordingly, the Minister has directed the Controller and Accountant-General (CAGD) to effect the payment.
A letter to the Controller and Accountant-General signed by the Minister said: “Approval has been given for the payment of critical support premium of 15 per cent of basic salary to staff in the following job classes in the non-teaching job classes in the GES”. These include Library Class, Accounting class, agriculture class, and laboratory class.”
Other classes are Internal Audit, Catering, ‘House Mother’, and Home Economics. The rest are Tradesmen, Transport Drivers and Conservancy labourer classes.”
Dr Duffuor said March-May 2011 arrears should to be paid in November 2011; June-August 2011 arrears to be paid in December 2011; and September- October arrears to be paid in January 2012.
It may be recalled that the delay in the payment of the 15 per cent arrears caused industrial action and series of negotiations between the GES, Fair Wages and Salary Commission (FWSC) on one hand, and the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) on the pther, which eventually resulted in the approval for the payment.
Later, Mr Mohammed Bogobiri, General Secretary of TEWU commended the government for giving approval for the payment of the 15 per cent, saying that government should in the same vein give further approval for the payment of 15 per cent premium to other 11 classes whose cases were being negotiated.
He said without their critical support, teaching and lecturing would be difficult, adding that their dedicated services had contributed to sustained growth in the education sector.
Source: GNA