Features
GES: Assist this’ helpless’ teacher!!!
A 40-year-old basic school teacher in the Upper Manya Krobo District of the Eastern Region , is said to have been given compulsory retirement notice before his statutory retirement age is due.
The teacher, Mr Isaac Kwabla Tettey, is said to have been teaching for the past 20 years and is currently stationed at Sutapong , near Sekesua, in the Upper Manya Krobo District.
Reportedly, his employers, the Ghana Education Service (GES), recently notified him to proceed on retirement because he has reached the statutory retirement age of 60.
Mr Tettey is, however, protesting the directive ordering him to proceed on retirement; claiming that he was born on 31st December 1981 not 1961 as being contended by his employers.
Indeed, Mr Tettey places the contentious ‘grievous anomaly’ surrounding his untimely retirement at the door-steps of the GES.
Reportedly, Mr Tettey’s records at the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) , clearly indicate that his birthdate is 31st December 1981, as filled by him when he signed and submitted the SSNIT form at the time he was employed.
Speaking to 3FM Radio recently, Mr Tettey traced the anomaly of his retirement date to the District Directorate of Education that submitted his personal records to the GES Head Office in Accra.
Mr Tettey said: ” I think that the person in-putting the information to the GES Head Office made it 1961 instead of 1981.
“It was after I received my notice of retirement that I observed that there was something wrong.”
He said, when he complained to SSNIT about the anomaly, he was directed to go to the GES to rectify it.
According to Mr Tettey, the GES had requested for his Class One Attendance Register to confirm his year of birth but when he followed up to the school where he attended Class One, the Headmistress could not trace the Class One Attendance Register.
From the way Mr Tettey was lamenting on 3FM Radio, his claim could be a very genuine clerical or typographical error on the part of his employers.
But all the same, investigation can establish the truth or falsity of his assertions. Shakespeare says:”There is no art to find the mind’s construction on the face.”
So, it is only proper investigation into the matter that will assist the GES to arrive at the truth.
In Ghana, it is not common for an individual teacher to walk to a ‘news station’ to ‘trumpet’ his plight to the hearing of the entire nation.
Rather, it is teacher- labour institutions like the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and National Association of Graduate Teachers ( NAGRAT) which are often heard in the media ‘battling’ government over salaries and other conditions of service.
Mr Tettey is said to be a member of GNAT. So, GNAT must take this matter up with the GES to ensure that the matter is expeditiously resolved.
Some teachers, however, contend that there are a lot of bureaucratic bottlenecks in the ‘ large womb’ of the GES ; to the extent that even ‘ minor’ ‘ teacher-issues’ take years and years to be resolved by the GES.
Please, GES, if what the teachers are saying is true, then surprise the whole nation by expediting action on this particular matter.
A research study of “Perceived Consequences of Unplanned Retirement Staff of Educational Institutions” has, however, recommended that Institutions should invest in pre-retirement activities for their staff before their retirement.
The four authors of the study are Adwoa Kwegyiriba, Olivia Agyemang, Joseph Eshun and Roland Osei Mensah.
The four researchers have called for greater sensitsation on pre-retirement planning, contending that workers must be alerted about perceived retirement consequences very early in their working life, so as to allow adequate time to prepare to adjust to better life towards retirement.
The researchers recommend that an employee’s date of retirement should be attached to his or her appointment letter to keep the retirement date in mind, right from the very beginning of one’s working life.
The four scholars recommend also that government should establish a policy that would compel all organisations and Institutions in the country to organise retirement seminars for their employees, who have between 10 and 15 years to retire.
This, they claim, would give them better space to prepare before their retirement.
The fact of the matter is that, many retirees in Ghana do not have decent retirement life. This is because Ghanaian workers and their employers do not prepare adequately for this phase of life through education and planning.
Really, it takes considerable time and resources to prepare an individual to enter employment, and so similarly, the employee has to be prepared adequately to exit employment, when he is due for retirement.
Many workers who may not know what to do with their lives after retirement, often turn to be hopeless.
As we patiently wait for the outcome of Mr Tettey’s retirement ‘palava’ from the GES , this column urges government and all employment institutions and organisations to urgently consider the study undertaken by the four scholars and actualise some of their lofty recommendations; to ease the burden of prospective retirees.
Contact email/WhatsApp of the author :
asmahfrankg@gmail.com (0505556179)
By G. Frank Asmah
Conflict at work is more common than you might think. According to 2022 research by The Myers-Briggs Company, more than a third of the workforce reports dealing with conflict often, very often, or all the time in the workplace.
Addressing a dispute might feel tense or awkward, but resolving the conflict is typically well worth it in the long run. Whether you are trying to mediate conflict between colleagues or are directly involved. Last week we looked at three and this week is the remaining four steps you can take to manage workplace conflict.
4. Find common ground
The best way to handle workplace conflict is to start with what you can agree on. Find common ground between the people engaging in conflict. If you are directly involved in the conflict, slow down and focus on results instead of who’s right.
If you are the mediator for conflict resolution between coworkers, observe the discussion and help point out the common ground others may not see.
5. Collectively brainstorm solutions
When deciding how to handle workplace conflict, it can be tempting to problem-solve on your own. Sometimes, it feels easier to work independently rather than collaboratively. However, if you want to achieve a lasting resolution, you will need to motivate your team to get involved.
Brainstorm possible solutions together, and solicit input from everyone involved on the pros and cons of each option until you settle on a solution that feels comfortable to everyone. This will help all team members feel a sense of ownership that can help prevent future conflicts.
6. Create an action plan
Once you have created an open dialogue around workplace conflicts, it is time to resolve them. Just like any other work goal, this requires creating a concrete plan and following through.
Create an action plan and then act on it. It does not matter what the plan is, as long as you commit to it and resolve the conflict as a result.
7. Reflect on what you learned
All conflicts offer an opportunity to grow and become a better communicator. Identify what went well and what did not.
Work with your whole team to gather learnings from the conflict so you can avoid similar situations in the future.
Today, I continue with my narration of personalities and their accomplishments as members of the Ghanaian Diaspora in Finland, with a focus on Mr Joseph Osei Amoah.
Mr Amoah is one of the senior members of the Ghanaian community in Finland and a top member of the Ghana Union Finland, an association of the Ghanaian migrant community in Finland.
He is an active and a well-respected person in the Ghanaian community in Finland. Mr Osei Amoah moved to Finland in the mid-1990s, and he has lived in Helsinki all this time.
Accomplishments and honours
It is important to recount accomplishments as part of the success stories of the personalities of Ghanaian descent in Finland in order to highlight their exploits both within the Ghanaian migrant community and in the wider Finnish society.
Mr Amoah holds a Master’s degree in Demography from the University of Helsinki. At the time he came to Finland in 1994, he had majored in Economics at the Bachelor’s level at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
Sometimes affectionately called “Chairman” in the Ghanaian migrant community, Mr Osei is a former Chairman of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) branch in Finland, assuming office around 2015, a few months after the branch was formed, until 2019 when he did not run again for the elections. He helped to bring vibrancy into the NPP Finland branch.
Religious life
Mr Amoah is a prominent member of the Global Methodist Church in Finland. In spite of his busy working life and other responsibilities, he remains a committed member of the Global Methodist Church in Finland.
He plays a key leadership role in the church, which is attended by many Ghanaian migrants and other African migrants, Finns, and those of other nationalities.
His position in Asanteman Finland
Mr Osei Amoah is an outstanding member of the Asanteman Finland, where he is the Gyasehene, a prominent position as a sub-chief in the Asante (and Akan) royal hierarchy, in the functioning of the traditional authority systemgenerally in Ghana.
The Asanteman Finland is an association formed purposely with the aim of supporting each other as well as to ensure unity among its members and others outside of the group.
One of its top priorities of Asanteman Finland is to display the Asante culture in Finland. Mr Osei Amoah finds this as very important since by upholding the traditional culture and heritage, the association enables its members and especially the young ones to get the chance to learn and appreciate Asante and Ghanaian cultural values. They do this through rites such as marriage, the naming ceremony, and death and funeral rites, which makes the people to learn more of their provenance and not forget their origins.
“My point is that, by displaying the traditional heritage it helps people to learn more about their provenance. For, I think it will be embarrassing to go home and see that even the young ones have much knowledge about how to perform certain rites whilst those of us in the diaspora may be deficient in understanding those practices”, he argued. It is also very important for the young ones who are born in Finland to learn what the culture of their original society is, he continued.
The Finnish educational system
Mr Osei has a lot to say about the Finnish educational system, which he sees as very good. “When we came to Finland, education was free. There were library books and manuscripts readily available in the library, and one could print or make as many photocopies as possible for your studies. There was more flexibility. One could read books and write exams on them for the necessary grades in order to complete your studies”. In his opinion, Ghana could learn much from the Finnish system, which is one of the best in the world.
He said the only initial challenge he found in Finland was how to master the Finnish language, without which it was difficult to get a job befitting one’s status after the studies. But things have changed today and there are many English courses so it is easy to study and get a job that matches your studies, especially in the area of ICT, he said.
His role in the Ghanaian community
Mr Osei Amoah has been very active in the Ghanaian community, as I have indicated earlier. He is still very active in the Ghana Union Finland, and has played a leadership in many functions organised by the Union, as a non-governmental organisation for the Ghanaian migrant community in Finland.
Mr Amoah has been a counsellor and mentor who has guided many young Ghanaian migrants on their career paths and has also been part in settling various kinds of conflicts between opposing parties or persons. In conclusion, I would say Mr Osei Amoah has succeeded in embossing his name in the golden pages of visionary Ghanaians in both Sweden and Finland.
With Dr Perpetual Crentsil
