The Ghana Education Service has been directed to fast track the issuance of staff Identification (ID) numbers to newly recruited teachers in order to hasten their salary payment processes.
The directive, issued by the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, pointed out that the issuance of staff ID numbers would facilitate efforts by the GES to put the new teachers on the payroll to receive their salaries.
The directive comes on the heels of reports in a section of the media that some newly recruited teachers have not been paid since they were posted some months ago. The delay in the payment, according to the report, was due to lack of staff ID numbers needed for the facilitation of the payment.
A spokesperson for the Ministry, Yaw Opoku Mensah, stated that it was based on this development that the Minister had urged GES to speed up the processes for the affected teachers to be hooked up to the payroll system for payment.
The Minister, he said, reiterated that the Education Ministry remained committed to ensuring that the welfare of all teachers is always at the forefront of promoting education.
Payment
In a related development, the Ministry has released GH¢57,460,000 to pay feeding grants and allowances for students of the 46 Colleges of Education in the country.
A statement signed by Kwasi Kwarteng, spokesperson of the Ministry of Education, reiterated the commitment of the Ministry to improve and sustain quality education in the country.
“The Government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Education, has released an amount of GH¢57,460.000.00 covering feeding grants and Student allowance to the 46 Colleges of Education in Ghana.
“The Ministry hereby reiterates its commitment to sufficiently resource and collaborates with all institutions under its ambit in the quest to improve and sustain quality education in Ghana,” the statement said.
The non-payment of allowances had led to strike actions by a section of the students of Colleges of Education.