We’ll go back to the classrooms but you can’t force us to teach – Teacher unions to NLC

The striking teacher unions have said that the National Labor Commission (NLC) can compel them to return to the classrooms but cannot force them to teach.

The NLC secured a court order to stop the teachers from continuing its strike action.

This was after the teachers defied a ruling by the NLC to call off their strike.

Three teacher unions— the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT)—are demanding payment of legacy arrears.

According to them, the government has failed to pay the arrears despite several assurances given them.

In an interview on Starr FM, National President of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) King Ali Awudu said their return to the classrooms will be detrimental if their concerns are not met.

“What people do not know is that you can force a horse to the riverside but you can’t force it to drink. And the worst of it which will happen is for you to use some crook Machiavellian tactics to force the teachers to go to the classrooms and then they’ll go and teach the children wrong things or they’ll get to the class and not teach” he said.

He says their concerns must be addressed to avoid a repeat of what happened in Canada.

“A similar thing happened in Canada and when they forced the teachers to go to the classrooms and they started teaching the children that a dog is an eagle and an eagle is a dog.  

The children started arguing with their parents. When they see a dog they call it eagle and when they see eagle they call it dog. That was when they realised that they were making a very big mistake by forcing the teachers to go to the classroom without listening to them” he added.

Meanwhile, the teachers are expected to return to the classrooms today after abandoning teaching for three days.