Teacher Unions in the country practically negotiated everything following the government’s one-teacher-one-laptop policy.
The spokesperson at the Ministry of Education, Kwasi Kwarteng, revealed this on Adom FM’s morning show, Dwaso Nsem on Tuesday,
“The teacher unions came up with the proposals and government had to accept it. They actually did every background check and made sure they procured quality laptops for our teachers.
“The teacher unions came with the cost but the government also made sure that the laptops were in good shape before any support was given,” he said.
To him, the proposal, which was initiated by the teacher unions, also falls under the government’s transformational agenda and so accepting the proposal was in the right direction.
ALSOA READ:
Every teacher in public school from the kindergarten to the senior high level would receive a laptop computer each.
The government would pay 70% of the cost of the laptop, while each teacher pays the remaining 30%.
Meanwhile, a group calling itself Innovation Teachers Association has kicked against the initiative over what it described as an inflated cost of the laptops with unpopular brands.
It argues the government should have considered Acer, Del, or Toshiba which are popular brands instead of the Teachers Mate 1 (TM1) laptops.
But reacting to that, Mr Kwarteng said his outfit has no idea who the association members are, adding they are not recognised.
“When was the first time this group came for negotiations? Where were they when we went on strike and where were they when the negations for the laptops started?
“I am not even sure Ghanaians have heard about them. They shouldn’t be unfair to teacher unions,” he said.