John Maxwell once said “The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development. There is almost no limit to the potential of an organization that recruits good people, raises them up as leaders, and continually develops them.”
A leader, they say, is someone who can see how things can be improved and who rallies people to move toward that better vision. Leaders can work toward making their vision a reality while putting people first. Just being able to motivate people isn’t enough — leaders need to be empathetic and connect with people to be successful. Leaders don’t have to come from the same background or follow the same path. Future leaders will actually be more diverse, which brings a variety of perspectives. Of course, other people could disagree with my definition.
The leadership they say is the action of leading a group of people or an organization.
Leadership is not all about bookish theories!!
Presidents are also leaders who have been entrusted by citizens to manage the affairs of a country. Management according to the oxford dictionary means the process of dealing with or controlling things or people.
If these are the definitions of the aforementioned terms then our leaders have failed us immensely. A president or a leader must listen to the voices on the ground and support them with their needs, and better still if there’s an economic hardship you call the needy to the negotiation table and make things clear to them. Trust is very important when you are leading a particular group of people. The reason why UTAG is not ready to go back to the negotiation table is that bodies like National Labour Commission (NLC) And the Fare wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) broke the trust that UTAG was having in them when they went to the negotiation table in October 2021. The president of UTAG , Professor Charles Marfo after negotiations with NLC had earlier indicated that it will only call off its strike completely upon successful negotiation with the government and the NLC.
“We have not called it [strike] off. We have only suspended it. If we look at the document [Memorandum of Understanding], there are reasons for the suspension.”
“We are supposed to have negotiations and finish within 30 days and if everyone is satisfied, there will be no continuation of a strike. Everything is clearly stated in the MoU, our concerns, needs, and conditions of service and the government has promised to look at them,” he said.
As a working body for the government, there should be genuine trust between you and those you render services to.
Students are now stranded, and the president of the land seems not to care about anything but just expecting his organs to perform magic but there’s nothing to show. Mr. President your silence on this strike is enough. Listening well on the ground you have been a shambolic leader with regard to Education in Ghana. Introducing free SHS was a perfect idea to make education accessible for everyone to acquire knowledge and skills but should have followed the trend of article 25(b) of the 1992 constitution of Ghana where it says “Secondary education in its different forms, including technical and vocational education, shall be made generally available and accessible to all by every appropriate means, and in particular, by the progressive introduction of education.”
The introduction of the double-track system at the SHS level has already destroyed the secondary cycle of the countries education. Again the introduction of the new academic calendar for basic school and the insertion of the new subject which does not have teaching and learning materials to help both the teacher and the learner is also a disgrace to us as a country.
Thinking that was all, in August 2021 University lecturers also started their strike action, to seek for their better working conditions as you promised them in 2012. All these things are happening in the education sector and the president of the country is not talking about it. Mr. President just as you updated us during the COVID-19 period we need an update on the strike as well.
By: Eric Crentsil
