The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has applauded President John Dramani Mahama’s commitment to overhaul the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS), arguing that the system has outlived its purpose and continues to disadvantage many public sector workers.
The president, during a media engagement on Wednesday, September 10, acknowledged that the SSSS, introduced in 2010 to harmonise salaries across the public sector, has failed to deliver true equity. He assured that a comprehensive review will be undertaken to address the distortions.
Reacting to the pledge, GNAT’s General Secretary, Thomas Musah, said teachers and other professionals have long borne the brunt of the inequities within the scheme.
“How can you go to a university, do the same programme—meaning they have the same value—and yet, on the spine, the moment they come out, one is placed on level 18 and the other on 16? How do you explain this? Since we are in the nation and working together, we need systems that reward people adequately and fairly,” he stressed.
The SSSS was initially intended to streamline pay under a job evaluation system managed by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission. Although it reduced some tensions and created uniformity, it also bloated the public wage bill and, over time, became a source of fresh agitation from labour unions.
Musah maintained that the president’s move offers an opportunity to finally correct the imbalances that have bred discontent for more than a decade.
