By Bright Kofi Agamah
Three Pre-Tertiary Teacher Unions have called on the Government to absorb interest on the 30 per cent costs that beneficiaries of the One-Teacher One-Laptop Project, were supposed to pay for the facility. This is because the pre-financing of the Laptops was done using money from their own contributions to the Ghana Education Service, GES Occupational Pension Scheme, GESOPS.
The call was made by the Ghana National Association of Teachers, GNAT, National Association of Graduate Teachers, NAGRAT and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana, CCT-Ghana, comes on the back of what they say are undue pressure on the Ghanaian Teacher.
At a joint news conference in Accra on Tuesday, 7th December 2021, the National President of GNAT, Madam Philippa Larsen, revealed that Government reached an agreement with the Pre-Tertiary Teacher Unions for the government to take up 70 percent of the cost of the Laptop, while the Teacher takes up 30 percent.
According to her, initially, the Teacher Unions advocated that the full cost of the laptop should be borne by the Government of Ghana. However, upon several days of negotiation and deliberations, the government agreed to bear 70 % of the Cost and the Members 30%. This was for the supply of Two Hundred and Eighty Thousand (280,000) laptops as well as provision of technical support, maintenance, training and equipping pre-tertiary teachers to provide virtual teaching and learning for their students.
She further stated that the Unit Cost of the Laptop was GH¢ 1550 with the 30% component of the teacher to be paid from the annual Continuous Professional Development Allowance. She pointed out, “this was our level of involvement in the One Teacher, One Laptop Project. The rest of the processes of procurement, award of contract financing and distribution was done by the Ministry of Education and GES.
The National GNAT President gave some background to the pre-financing agreement with the GESOPS and GES. According to her, on 11th February 2021, a Laptop Computer Pre-financing Agreement was entered into between the Ghana Education Service (Acting on Behalf of the Ministry of Education) and the Ghana Education Service Occupational Pension Scheme (GESOPS).
She stated that per the pre-financing agreement between GES and GESOPS, the cost per teacher is GH¢549.44 as a result of the 18.16% interest rate on the GH¢465.00. According to her, the price was further reduced to GH¢509.00 due to the intervention of the Unions and Ministry of Education, who indicated that 18.16% cannot be charged on the entire 30% (GH¢ 465) portion of the Teacher. Therefore, the Ghana Education Service, in a letter to the Chairman of the Board of Trustees stated that 30% of the cost of the laptop (worked) up to Five Hundred and Nine Ghana Cedis (GH¢509.00).
The National President of GNAT on behalf of the leadership of pre-tertiary teacher unions, therefore appealed to the Government through the Ministry of Education to absorb the interest charges on the 30% that had accrued from the GESOPS pre-financing. She also urged the Government to ensure that by the 31st of December, 2021, all teachers deducted monies for the Laptops would have received them.
The President of National Association of Graduate Teachers, NAGRAT, Mr. Angel Cabonu, touched on the GES Occupational Pension scheme, GESOPS, and the rationale for using the funds for pre-financing the One-Teacher-One-Laptop Project. He however insisted that Teacher Unions have not been shortchanged in the One-Teacher -One -Laptop Programme and explained why the SHS is the starting point of distribution.
He stated that “every pension fund is an investment fund and the activity of an investment is to fund where you can accrue interest on the money. So, if there is an organization that we want to go to support in terms of finance, the best to do is to go to our own organization (GESOPS) by a way of investment to get some money for our own people when they retire, than, to go to another organizations where interest accruals will eventually not come to our people”
He added that the distribution of the laptop is almost complete in all Senior High Schools, nationwide, and “I’m sure the reason why the Ghana Education Service choose the SHS as the first point of distribution is to use it as a pilot to test whatever challenges that may arise, because the number of basic schools in this country are more dense than Senior High Schools.”
According to Mr. Cabonu, the interesting thing that contradicts the noise and hullabaloo is, all institutions and Teachers who have had the opportunity of getting their laptops, we have not had that negative reaction from them. Indeed, rather “I have evidence that a lot of Teachers are rather waiting for their laptops to be distributed, as leaders our job is to ensure that whoever’s money is deducted, we ensure that that person gets his or her laptop.”
Meanwhile, the President of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana, CCT-GH, Mr. King Ali Awudu, said there are some unique features on the Laptops which have been developed specifically to aid Teachers. He indicated that as part of the agreement, the supplier is supposed to produce in the “cloud”, something that all the needed ebooks, whatever, will be uploaded on.
Mr. Awudu said there will be a unique code to be able to use the laptops to download syllabuses and other educational materials. “Initially we wanted to put on the laptop preloaded educational materials, but it was realized that if that is done it is going to make the laptop run slow. For example, if I teach English and I receive a laptop containing the syllabus for all subjects, what will be the use of the other syllabuses on the laptop to me when I need only English” he stated.