Thanks to History: Teachers Strike in Ghana is an Agelong Ritual Older Than Mahama’s Government

We cannot demand in poetry and perform in prose, and we cannot campaign in economic sophistry and expect modesty in social demands. In his 1961 inaugural address, where he admonished the citizens to contribute to the nation’s development rather than seeking public benefits, John F. Kennedy coined his famous cliché: “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” Public sector industrial strikes in Ghana have almost invariably become a yearly ritual, which appeared to gather momentum anytime my party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, is in power. It is a good thing, depicting the good relationship between the NDC and its cherished Ghanaian workers. The government and the teacher trade unions must work hard to ameliorate their deteriorating relationship.

All over the world, public sector wages are less than private sector wages for economic policy, structural, and labor market reasons; albeit, the former receives more benefits than the latter. Workplace compensation is not limited to financial rewards but to other benefits such as job satisfaction, job security, and a burnout- or stress-free working environment. Evidence-based research found a correlation between workplace stress and psychopathological conditions such as anxiety and depression and physical health conditions like high blood pressure.

The writer was a high school history teacher in Ghana before immigrating to the United States. As a former “in loco parentis,” the writer cannot undermine the demands of his colleagues. Nonetheless, one of the jobs with the highest job security in Ghana is teaching.

Per 2025 UNDP human development report: “Artificial intelligence (AI) has broken into a dizzying gallop. While AI feats grab headlines, they privilege technology in a make-believe vacuum, obscuring what really matters: people’s choices. The choices that people have and can realize, within ever expanding freedoms, are essential to human development, whose goal is for people to live lives they value and have reason to value. A world with AI is flush with choices the exercise of which is both a matter of human development and a means to advance it.”

In the next 15 years, many people will be jobless due to AI. Teaching is AI-proof because it requires physical dexterity. Just as social media is killing journalism, many jobs will be eliminated. How does it sound to be a teacher in the midst AI revolution? It sounds very good!

Colleague teachers, good intentions have a humble beginning but a terrible end. Considering the prevailing tailspin economic indicators in the lead-up to John Mahamah’s administration, you have every right to demand improvement in the condition of services. The writer is not unaware of the conflict theory ( a macro-level perspective in sociology that views society as a fundamentally unequal structure driven by competition rather than cooperation. Groups engage in a continuous power struggle over scarce resources, such as wealth, prestige, and authority, around one central question: “Who gets what?”). As a student of history, the writer has yet to discover any conflict that ended without a peace accord or negotiation. This partly explains the imperative need for teachers to return to the negotiation table with the government. The writer is hoping for the day the teacher unions will go on strike for poor results to urge their members to do better.

To the politicians, you knew Ghana’s macroeconomic indicators with its concomitant exogenous factors before promising voters what you cannot achieve. We cannot afford to campaign in economic sophistry and expect citizens to be moderate in their expectations. Let us all be measured in what we tell voters. All over the world, people are paid based on their experience, qualifications, and when the supply of their demand is inelastic.

It is very preposterous to set equal basic pay of 60000 Ghana cedis for members of parliament (MPs). Pay them according to their experience, educational qualifications, and the number of their constituents. An MP with ordinary (o) level must be paid 1000 Ghana Cedis. Look at the current MP for Akwatia: very competent, yet the constituents previously voted for Ama Sey, who could not understand what was being discussed on the floor of parliament, as evidenced by her reporting in a viral video on social media.

All over the world, there is a salary range, and MPs must be no exception. A pay range from 1000 Ghana Cedis to 60,000 Ghana cedis for MPs would curb monetization in politics and goad constituents and political parties to elect competent MPs who could contribute to national discourse. It could avert unnecessary labor strikes because highly educated public sector workers like teachers might not be disgruntled with their school dropout entering the legislature for lucrative incentives. The thoroughgoing Ghanaian teachers' strike action is not only a source of consternation to many well-meaning people but needs immediate resolution. We can conceive of the future with high rises, but humanity without music and love is not only inconceivable, highly impossible-George Leonard.

By Nana Yaw Osei, Ph. D., Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

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