Kumasi Teachers Angry Over Imposition Of Insurance Policy

Teachers in the Ashanti Region are opposing the re-introduction of a group insurance policy claiming it has been imposed on them by the Ghana Education Service (GES).

The policy which deducts GHc10 from the salaries of the teachers was first introduced in June 2018 but was halted after resistance by the teachers.

According to the teachers, in a letter dated February 27, 201,9 and addressed to them, GES hinted of plans to reintroduce the policy in April this year.

In an interview with Citi News, General Secretary of the Ashanti regional chapter of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, Adom Nti Acheampong expressed the resolve of the teachers to resist the policy.

“If there is going to be any insurance to be done for teachers, teachers must be properly consulted. Insurance should be individualized, give the opportunity to the individual to make the decision. If it is a new policy government wants to implement, there must be a lot of consultation,” he said.

According to the Ashanti Regional President of GNAT, Peter Boateng, GES failed to do a national sensitization of the policy to the people involved.

He also stated that GNAT had suggested to GES-SIC to undertake a nationwide sensitization on the policy to enable teachers to make the decision of joining it or not.

In June 2018, teachers across the country in public basic and senior high schools protested against a policy which deducted GHc10 from their salaries through the Controller and Accountant Generals Department (CAGD) for a life insurance policy which they were not aware of.

After the protest, the GES ordered the CAGD to stop the deductions of the premium in subsequent months.

But GES in a letter dated February 27, 2019, signed by the Director General, Professor Kwasi Opoku Amankwa demanded that teachers who are not interested in the deal fill an exit form which was available at all GES offices country-wide.

The letter stated that the deductions of GHc10 will commence in April 2019.

–citinewsroom