The Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC-Ghana) has said over 80 per cent of education support roles worldwide, including Ghana, are held by women who face systemic gender injustices — low wages, precarious conditions, low pensions, harassment and exclusion from decision-making. 

It said decent work was not only about having a job but also about dignity, equality, fair income, social protection, safety and health, rights, and social justice.

“These values are advanced through dialogue, respect, and organised engagement between employers and workers.

We demand justice for these women and for all education support personnel. Equal pay, safe workplaces, comprehensive social protection.”

Institutions

“In many public institutions, non-teaching staff are treated as an afterthought.

The recognition of their roles is non-negotiable if we are serious about quality education delivery and outcomes.

Denying them fair treatment undermines the very foundation of learning and decent work,” the General Secretary of TEWU, James Azortibah, said at this year’s Education Support Personnel Day in Accra.

The event was held on the theme: “Unions Unite for Gender Justice.”

Mr Azortibah said in senior high schools and universities, education support personnel — cleaners, gardeners, security guards, drivers, cooks, matrons, accountants, supply officers, auditors, porters, technical instructors, house mothers in special schools and administrative aides — perform indispensable duties.

“These workers are in both senior staff and Junior Staff categories.

They maintain hygienic learning environments, secure our institutions, transport resources, and prepare nutritious meals that fuel young minds.

Without their tireless work, teachers cannot teach and students cannot thrive.

Yet their contributions are too often overlooked,” he said.

Approach

He said quality education required an inclusive approach that values all workers, not only teachers and that governments and institutions must invest holistically: recruit and train support staff, enforce labour laws equitably, and include their voices in policy dialogues.

Mr Azortibah called on government, university councils, and school managements to adopt gender-responsive budgets that recognised and remunerate every role in the education ecosystem.

That, he said, was to end discrimination and unequal treatment based on gender, remove systemic barriers that disadvantaged women and men, provide redress for past harms (unfair pay, harassment, exclusion) and ensure fair access to opportunities, resources, decision-making, and workplace protection.

“TEWU has continuously respected dialogue with our employer through collective agreement.

We believe a collective agreement is more than a document; it is a covenant of fairness that protects clerical staff, cleaners, security personnel, drivers, accountants, supply officers, porters, and others.

It is therefore regrettable when agreed and signed conditions of service are not implemented in good faith. Where implementation fails, workers suffer.

Platform

“We wish to use this platform to send a clear signal to the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), university managements, Ghana Museums and Monuments Board, and the Ghana Library Authority: the agreed allowances (including the five per cent and 10 per cent operational allowances and overtime allowance for our security personnel) for our members in universities, Ghana Education Service and relevant agencies must be paid immediately.

The Chairperson of TEWU of TUC-Ghana, Salamatu Mahamah Braimah, said education support personnel were the non-teaching staff who helped schools and educational institutions to function effectively.

“Overall, education support personnel are essential because they contribute to the smooth operation of schools and the holistic development of students.

Without them, effective teaching and learning would be difficult to achieve.

“Education institutions across the world, and especially in Ghana, often regard education support personnel as inferior to academic staff, even though our roles complement each other.

In reality, without education support personnel, it would be very difficult for academic staff to deliver the quality education we all desire.

We, the members of TEWU of the TUC, wish to use this occasion to urge the Government, management of educational institutions, and academic staff to recognise the significant complementary roles played by Education Support Personnel in the education sector and to remunerate us accordingly,” she emphasised.