"Put this on record,I don't support strike actions no matter how justifiable they may seem. It breeds laziness."- M.K.E
As I sat in my room I heard on the radio via the state broadcaster,Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) that the Ghana National Association of Teachers(GNAT), The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), The Teachers and Educational Workers Union(TEWU),The Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) was embarking on a nationwide strike which is to last indefinitely.
Wow,is it a thunder strike or a football strike,my young mind wondered. Anyway, pardon my childish thoughts.
That was when I began to ask myself some salient questions.
What motivated this strike?
Why did it have to last indefinitely?
Couldn't the leaders of these labour Unions reach an amicable understanding with the government of the day?
I heard that the labour Unions were agitating for Cost of Living Allowance (COLA)
Oh Noviny3, when did this one too come and I didn't hear.
Or I have been behind the news for sometime. Why do matters have to escalate on very basic and simple issues which can be solved easily with sense and humility.
Or is it a question of greed or a lack of understanding with proper communication or it is just a decision by leaders of both parties just not to come an agreement.
Anaa,it is because of "Kakra ye bedi nti" or as my Ga and Dangme brothers "nokofio h)m) baa yemi".
Why do we keep doing this to ourselves. And yet we claim that leaders are elected for this labour groups. The TUC,TEWU,NAGRAT, GNAT,CCT are all Rubber Stamp Organisations. They serve their stomachs more than Labour and Good Conscience.
That is why any strike they Plan is a Fluke. It doesn't tickle the Government one bit.
I have always maintained the monetization of education spelt the death of good, credible education as we know it. Teaching is a matter of the heart ❤️,a beautiful romance of two different worlds, sometimes contradictory but united in one purpose. I would like to borrow what Professor John Nash said to his students when he described them as "eager young minds".
Education is a two way street that demands effective communication, collaboration, planning, interest and abilities from both sides, the teacher or facilitator and the student or learner but especially from the latter.
To be educated, is to be civilised.
That is why the whole talk of a strike action came as a shock to me.
Couldn't the leaders of these labour Unions have been more prudent in their negotiations with an evasive government. It baffles me that in the 21st century we still have to put up and endure this unproductive, unpleasant strike actions which only has negative, cascading, ripple effects on the future of the same children we, teachers, seek to nurture and educate.
Ironically, the President's own children may even be older than the school going age or he may see them as better of to attend public and government institutions. So who does this strike affect, the innocent poor farmer's soon in Zabzugu, the daughter of that seamstress in Torkor, the little boy in Aveme-Veme, the children at Kotokoraba who are now understanding the value of education, the boy who engages in galamsey at Dunkwa-on-Offin but would want to pursue a different path, the Goldsmith's son, the Carpenter's son in Axim.
Such poetic justice.
You leave this children to be illiterate so they can be deceived by the descendants of this same leaders you are striking against.
It is sad,it is pathetic. It is a pathetic site to behold. Strikes only benefit the oppressor and only goes on to reinforce the notion that men are violent.
To plan for a day, you catch a fish,to plan for a year you plant a tree,to plan for a century, you educate your people"- Mboz
Be wise.
