GES Promotion Interview Questions & Answers (All Areas) Part 4

QUESTION 1

WHAT IS ANALOGOUS GRADE?

It is a grade that has the same salary level and range with the other but in different classes of teaching or non-teaching, for example the analogous grades of Assistant Director II in the teaching class are Deputy Chief Accountant II, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer II and Deputy Chief Internal Auditor II in the non-teaching class. A worker converts from one – class to the other based on analogous grade e.g. from Principal Superintendent to Principal Accountant.

 

QUESTION 2

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RE-ENGAGEMENT AND RE-INSTATEMENT?

Re-engagement concerns an employee who re-enters the Service after vacating his post, whereas re-instatement is in respect of an employee who has been recalled from suspension or interdiction after being cleared of an allegation of professional misconduct.

An employee who seeks re-engagement needs to apply for it and complete re-engagement form supported with an assurance letter, last promotion letter, confidential report from former head of department, last pay slip and clearance from indebtedness to the Service. It is implied that re-engagement can be approved only on the basis of vacancy.

A re-engaged employee has to serve for a minimum of five years on the grade that he left the Service before he can qualify for promotion or study leave as against a minimum of three years for the normal employee.

On the other hand, a re-instated employee does not need to apply for his status. Once he is cleared of the supposed allegation(s) he comes back to post to enjoy all the benefits suspended during the period of his suspension or interdiction.

 

QUESTION 3

WHAT IS SSSS

SSSS means Single Spine Salary Structure. It is a system of wage structure or remuneration whereby people with the same academic / professional qualification and performing same functions but working in different departments receive the same basic salary. Other differential emoluments termed market premium, depend upon risk factor of job, number of hours spent on a job, etc.

 

QUESTION 4

WHAT IS THE SHIFT SYSTEM OF EDUCATION AS IT EXISTS AT THE BASIC LEVEL? WHAT ARE ITS ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES?

It is an improvised system of school attendance usually at the basic level and within communities where there is limited classroom accommodation. Under the system enrolled pupils of a school in such a deprived community where there is limited classroom accommodation attend classes on all days but are divided into two groups with one group attending classes in the morning (between 7am and 12noon) and the other taking its turn in the afternoon (between 12:30 and 5:30).

The sessions are however alternated periodically, usually two weeks, to ensure fairness with respect to the varied weather conditions of the morning and afternoon.

Advantages

Under the condition of insufficiency of classroom facilities the shift system allows as many pupils as possible to go to school thus making maximum use of available facilities.

Disadvantages

1. The system does not promote effective teaching and learning, especially during the afternoon session.

2. There is poor school attendance by both teachers and pupils.

3. There is truancy on the part of pupils who usually use the off session as an excuse for not going to school.

 

QUESTION 5

WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF NOTES PREPARATION IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESS?

1. Notes preparation makes teachers more knowledgeable as they make references from different sources during the notes preparation.
2. It helps to present lessons in a coherent order to learners.
3. It keeps teachers and learners on track.
4. It provides directions to teachers who may act on behalf of other teachers in their absence.
5. It serves as a record of work.
6. It enhances efficient delivery by the teacher.

 

QUESTION 6

WHAT IS TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE?

Terms and conditions of service is an agreement between the employer (G.B.S) and the employee (represented by the labour union) concerning the benefits and responsibilities, of the employee.

The employer owes the employee, benefits and the employee owes the employer some responsibilities. Benefits are negotiable.

 

QUESTION 7

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE EMPLOYEE UNDER THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE IN THE GHANA EDUCATION SERVICE?

The benefits of an employee under the terms and conditions of service in the G.E.S include the following:

1. Payment of monthly salary and related allowances

2. Promotion,

3. Payment of T & T for travelling on official duties,

4. Payment of car maintenance allowance for assigned vehicles,

5. Study leave with pay,

6. Study leave without pay,

7. Leaves – annual, maternity, sick, casual and leave for examination,

8. Transfer grant,

9. T & T expenses on posting and transfer

10. Refund of medical expenses.

The responsibilities of an employee include regular and punctual attendance to work so as to take up mandate, not stealing, not taking alcohol or smoking during working hours, not fighting or engaging in any form of assault, verbal or physical and not disclosing vital information that can bring the name of the Service into disrepute.

 

QUESTION 8

WHAT IS THE SCHEME OF SERVICE?

The scheme of service deals with the academic and professional qualifications for appointment or upgrading into a particular grade, the ladder of promotions and the job description of the various grades. For example, under the present scheme of service a holder of a relevant 1″ degree qualification is appointed or upgraded to Principal Superintendent – or analogous grade and from there he continues to enjoy subsequent promotions.

 

QUESTION 9

WHAT TWO MAIN ASSOCIATIONS EXIST IN THE GHANA EDUCATION SERVICE TO FIGHT FOR THE INTEREST OF WORKERS?

The two associations are Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) for teachers, and Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) for the non-teaching staff.

 

QUESTION 10

WHO IS THE ADMINISTRATIVE HEAD OF TEWU?

The General Secretary.

 

QUESTION 11

WHAT IS TEWU AND WHAT ROLE DOES IT PLAY IN THE LIFE OF GES WORKERS?

TEWU means Teachers and Educational Workers Union. It is the labour union that represents the non-teaching staff in the GES and some workers in the tertiary institutions to negotiate on their behalf for better terms and conditions of service, mediate between management and employees in times of disagreement and also organize capacity building programmes for its members.

 

QUESTION 12

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PROMOTION AND UPGRADING?

Promotion is a rise in grade of a worker from one level to the next. Promotion is acquired by attending and passing a promotion interview or writing and passing a prescribed promotion examination after serving a specified number of years on a grade. One cannot jump a grade under promotion.

Upgrading is a change in grade from one level to another, not necessarily the next, based on the acquisition of a higher qualification relevant to one’s area of work. Under the current scheme of service, a holder of 1* degree in Accounting can be appointed to the grade of Principal Accountant so if an employee is on the grade of Assistant Accountant or even below and acquires such a qualification, he is moved to that top grade thus skipping two or more steps on the ranking.

 

QUESTION 13

WHAT IS STUDY LEAVE WITH PAY AND WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES ASSOCIATED WITH THE SYSTEM?

Study leave with pay is one of the benefits under the GES terms and conditions of service and a facility available to a worker to leave his job to further his education in a relevant area of his job schedule. The worker receives his monthly salary and other benefits like promotion and incremental jumps for the period of the study leave. As stated above the programme of study should be relevant to the job schedule of the worker as approved by GES and he must have served a minimum of 3 or 2 years after first appointment or previous course of study to qualify for the facility. (3 years’ service is general requirement and 2 years as incentive package for staff in deprived areas).

The applicant should also show evidence of admission from the institution of study and the course of study should be a full time programme.

Again, the worker enters into an agreement with the Service to report back for posting after the study leave. Whilst on study leave the beneficiary is bound by all rules and regulations of the Service.

Advantages.

The advantages of study leave with pay include the following:

1. It helps to build the capacity of the worker for the performance of his duties and this is of benefit to both the worker and the Service.

2. It relieves the worker of the financial burden of undertaking the study programme.

3. The worker enjoys full study period and can therefore have full concentration.

The major disadvantage is that it brings additional financial burden to the Service since another person would have to be recruited to fill the vacancy created.

It can affect teaching and learning or general output where the worker was on a special job where replacement is difficult.

Again, the worker may fail to come back to the Service and that becomes double loss to the Service.

 

QUESTION 14

WHAT IS THE ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION TO THE HIGH COST OF MAINTAINING THE STUDY LEAVE WITH PAY SYSTEM IN THE GES?

A work-study programme partly sponsored by the Service is the alternative solution to the high cost of maintaining the study leave with pay system.

Areas of support can include a package for part of course fee, examination fee, learning materials, and T & T.

The work-study programmes include, sandwich programmes, part-time study programmes in the evening and week-ends and, online and correspondence studies.

The major advantage of the work study programme is that it keeps the employee at post to. avoid the cost of replacement and at the same time helps him build his capacity.

 

QUESTION 15

WHAT IS THE WORK STUDY SYSTEM? WHAT ARE ITS ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES?

The work-study system is an avenue which enables a worker to remain at post and at the same time finds time to build his academic or professional capacity by learning at the weekend, evening or during holidays (sandwich) or through correspondence and online learning. It embraces distance learning where beneficiaries receive lectures at satellite compounds set up by the various tertiary institutions.

The advantages of the work-study system are that it is cost saving to the government since the worker remains at post and therefore needs not to be replaced to incur additional cost as it is with study leave with pay.

The worker improves on his capacity to the benefit of his employer and himself while still working.

The worker still enjoys the family relationship while learning.

The disadvantages of the work-study system are that the worker may not be able to perform effectively as expected since he may have divided attention. Either the job or his studies suffers.

The worker could be saddled with family problems in view of his closeness to the family.

The quality of his education so acquired could be sub-standard because of inadequate concentration.

 

QUESTION 16

WHAT IS CSSPS? WHAT ARE ITS ASSOCIATED ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES?

CSSPS means Computerized School Selection and Placement System. It is a computerized system of selecting Junior High School leavers for entry into Senior High Schools based on their raw scores and the schools and programmes chosen.

The advantages of the CSSPS are:

1. There is fairness since placement is based on performance and not on age, structure or gender. Candidates have the chance of being placed in first class schools which they couldn’t have had under the old manual system.

2. Parents don’t have to go round searching for schools for their wards.

3. It is possible to know one’s placement without having to go round schools. Just by going to an infernet café or clicking one’s cellphone placement can be known.

4. There is a wider range of choice of schools and once choices are well graduated a candidate will by all means get placement.

5. There is fair distribution of students to both first class schools and less endowed ones.

6. The system has come to ease the minds of some members of the public who had the perception that some heads were collecting money before admitting students to their schools.

7. The allocation of 30% slot of vacancies to students of public schools enables them to get assess to first class schools.

8. Generally, the system is more transparent than the previous manual system.

The disadvantages of the system are that:

1. If the system is working perfectly and heads of institutions are adhering strictly to the rules it will be difficult to help some parents who have made significant contributions to the development of a particular school, e.g. old students and benevolent donors.

2. Manipulation of the machine can bring about abuse of the system.

 

QUESTION 17

WHAT IS IPPD?

IPPD means Integrated Personnel Payroll Database. It is a mechanized system of capturing data of personnel and processing same for payment of salary and other related allowances.

 

QUESTION 18

WHAT IS NGO? GIVE EXAMPLES OF 4 NGO’S. WHAT ROLES DO NGO’S PLAY IN OUR SOCIETIES?

NGO means Non-governmental Organization. NGOs are non-profit making local and international organizations working to seek the welfare of the localities within which they operate. Examples of NGOs are World Vision International, Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA), Catholic Relief Services, Apostle Kwadwo Sarfo and Action Aid, Ghana.

The activities undertaken by the NGOs include the following:

1. Provision of educational infrastructure – classrooms, furniture, etc.,

2. Provision of health facilities, toilets, etc.,

3. Health education,

4. Drilling of boreholes

5. Supply of relief materials – food, blankets, drugs, etc.

 

QUESTION 19

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN NGO AND A DEVELOPMENT PARTNER?

NGOs are private non-profit making organizations, local and international, which work independently of the government of their countries to improve upon the welfare of the communities in which they operate. They generate their own resources for their planned activities.

Development Partners are international bodies which operate through their governments to support the socio-economic development of needy countries. Funds provided by Development Partners are channeled through the government of the beneficiary country for the conduct of activities agreed upon. Examples of Development Partners are Japan International Coop. Agency (JICA), United States Agency for International Development (USAID, Department for International Development (DFID -UK), African Development Bank (ADB), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), UNICEF, UNESCO and World Bank.

 

QUESTION 20

WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NATIONAL SERVICE SCHEME?

National Service is a mandatory one year employment service in public and private institutions after completing a tertiary programme of study. It is compulsory for all leavers of tertiary institutions below the age of forty years. National Service personnel can voluntarily do a second year service if they so desire.

1. The National Service provides temporary employment for graduates of tertiary institutions and thus reduces unemployment among the youth.

2. It could create avenue for permanent employment for the personnel in the entity where they worked.

3. The allowance paid to them enables them to meet some of their basic needs thus relieving parents of the burden of catering for them.

4. t gives personnel working experience in the fields that they work.

5. It provides labour for deprived areas where regular staff of departments are unwilling to accept postings to.

6. It leads to socialization with the new environments that personnel come into contact with.

7. It reduces social evils associated with unemployment.

8. It reduces the wage bill of the government.

 

CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING PARTS
GES Promotion Interview Questions & Answers (All Areas) PART 1
GES Promotion Interview Questions & Answers (All Areas) PART 2
GES Promotion Interview Questions & Answers (All Areas) PART 3
GES Promotion Interview Questions & Answers (All Areas) PART 4
GES Promotion Interview Questions & Answers (All Areas) PART 5