Teachers' arrears delayed due to fake documents - GES

The Ghana Education Service (GES) says the payment of the salary arrears of some category of teachers had delayed because some of them submitted fake documents and certificates.

According to the Director-General of GES, Mr Jacob Aaworb-Nang Maabobr Kor, the Education Ministry identified the culprits and according to him, the number is likely to increase because more than 200 of them were identified in one district.

Addressing the press on Friday, February 19, 2016, Mr Kor said 14,575 input forms that were initially submitted by teachers for processing and payment, only 6,268 were found to be attached with genuine supporting documents.

He said out of the remaining 8,307 input forms, some were queried by the Audit Service on the grounds of non-inclusion of certificates, establishment warrants, assumption of duty letters and acceptance letters.

But the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) said the admittance of recruitment of fake teachers is an indictment on the GES.

"Is the Director General is admitting that the Ghana Education Service has been recruiting teachers with fake certificates all these years?" asked the Vice President of NAGRAT, Angel Cabonu in an interview with Accra-based Citi FM.

He said, "if it is so then the Director General and the Ghana Education Service stand indicted because for a service to agree that it has recruited people who are not certificated and they are so many to the extent that when we are talking about 3,000 teachers owed arrears, Director General is saying after paying a paltry 600 then the rest are people with fake certificates."

See more: Teachers petition GNAT, NAGRAT et al over salary arrears

Meanwhile, the GES said it has handed over 400 teachers who presented fake certificates for employment to the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).

This forms part of efforts by the GES to sanitise the country’s educational system to ensure that only qualified persons are employed to teach.