Public schools in Kumasi turned into playing ground as teachers strike begin to bite

Learning was paralysed in public schools Tuesday after teachers proceeded with their planned strike across the country to demand for the payment of their Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).

When the OTEC FM News crew visited public schools in Kumasi metropolis in the Ashanti Region, pupils turned their classrooms into playing grounds while others were heading back home after they found that their teachers were absent.

According to OTEC News Kwame Agyenim Boateng, the indefinite strike by the four teacher unions in Ghana, which began on Tuesday, July 5, 2022, has left many students at the various basic schools stranded.

A visit to some primary and Junior high schools in the Atwima Nwabiagya South Municipality saw hundreds of students lingering around without the supervision of their teachers.

Classrooms were spotted empty as students resorted to playing football early Tuesday morning.

While some students were playing around on the school compound, others packed their books and went home after learning that their teachers were on strike.

The four teacher unions on Monday declared a nationwide strike over the government’s inability to meet the deadline for their demands for the payment of Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).

The industrial action follows the expiration of a June 30 deadline the unions gave the government.