The Coalition of Concerned Teachers(CCT) has called on Ghana Education Service (GES) to suspend the intended Ghc10 monthly deduction for Welfare Policy for teachers starting July.
In June 2018, GES with State Insurance company(SIC) proposed the Insurance Policy for all GES staff which was launched in June 2019 by the Director -General of Ghana Education Service to be rolled out in July despite an uproar by many teachers which led to initial suspension of the policy.
Under the group policy, a teacher will be deducted GH¢10 a month, while the government made a counterpart contribution for each staff. Once insured, beneficiary will be paid up to GH¢18,000 in the event of permanent disability or death while Ghc9,000 paid to the insured who suffers critical illness such as cancer, kidney/renal failure, deafness, loss of sight, heart attack, stroke, paralysis among others.
Addressing the media in Koforidua on Friday, the Eastern Regional Chairman of CCT -Samuel Antwi said the deduction must be put on hold for broader consultations since the current arrangement is not in the supreme interest of teachers.
“We are surprised why the Controller and Accountant General Department would continue to breach the third party reference system agreement (TPRS) by allowing SIC to take our money without our consent. Why is GES abusing our confidential information by using our data to exploit innocent employee. Again, why would they not allow interested teachers to enroll onto the scheme and why is it being sole sourced.”
According to the Coalition of Concerned Teachers, the premium is expensive.
“We think the premium is expensive and exploitative as the Ghc10 which is being charged shall be reviewed as and when the inflation jumps. It has become crystal clear and obvious that poor teachers’ money is being targeted by some long hand individuals for their parochial interest. We are daring the Education Minister, SIC Life to come clear as to how much the government pays and why is it not enough”.
“Once again, we are calling on the Education Ministry, GES and SIC to put the Policy on hold to avoid any open confrontation,” they added.
The Coalition of Concerned Teachers copied their concerns to the office of the President, National Insurance Commission, Parliamentary Select Committee on Education, CHRAJ, National Labour Commission, General secretaries of both NPP and NDC for their intervention to avert uncontrolled anger should the deduction continue. – Kojo Ansah
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