The Ghana Education Service (GES) has suspended the GH¢10 insurance deductions to make way for the policy to be regularized. The suspension will be in August only with deductions set to resume in September for only teachers interested in the scheme, which offers a life cover of GH¢18,000 in case of death or permanent disability. Some teachers had expressed disagreement with the reintroduction of the scheme in July and descended heavily on the Service for not informing them before effecting deductions. The scheme was formally introduced in June, 2018 but was suspended after agitations among staff. Sensitisation was intensified and it was reintroduced. But as agitations continued, GES put in place an exit window for staff who were not interested. “That window is still available and we urge any member of staff who is not interested in the scheme to indicate that and opt out of it by filling an Exit Form which is available to all staff,” said the Director-General of GES, Professor Kwasi Opoku Amankwa. “So far, records available indicate that almost 40,000 staff have completed the Exit Forms.” At a press conference on Thursday, August 15, Prof Opoku Amankwa said over 35,000 staff who opted out have been successfully deleted from the scheme by the Controller and Accountant General’s Department. Some 45 staff with inaccurate particulars could not be deleted, nonetheless. A majority of those who opted out have had refunds of their deductions. “Management has decided that no deduction should happen in August 2019,” he stressed. “This should provide the opportunity for refunds for all who filled the Exit Form.” Provision has, however, been made to those who wish to re-join. They will be supported to re-join, he announced. Deductions will resume in September “for those who have not exited at the end of August”. Source: 3news.com|Ghana]]>