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Samuel George, a Member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) communication team has expressed his frustration with the �punishment and jeopardy� being meted to students preparing to write the West African Secondary School Certificate Exam (WASSCE) due to start in April by the striking teachers. According to him, the teachers should have been a bit more considerate, giving the fact that the conditions of service of the teacher has improved greatly since the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS). �It is most unfortunate...because if you look at what teachers were being paid a few years ago; some of them taking home a monthly salary of ₵1,000,000 and ₵1,300,000, compared to what the case is today, with teachers receiving ₵8,000,000,others take home ₵10,000,000 a month. Though I do not believe it is too much, I think it is a fair salary to be paid to teachers�. He believes the issue could have been resolved without �punishing innocent children� because the dispute has to do with salaries. Speaking as a panelist on �Dwaso nsem� programme on Adom FM, the communicator of the NDC could not understand the rationale behind the timing of the strike because of the fact that some students would begin practical exams in two weeks� time. Teachers in the country declared a nationwide strike at a news conference on Friday March 15 2013. The teachers say they have four major grievances which have still not been addressed by the government despite several overtures in that regard. One of those major issues has to do with "delays in resolving outstanding issues concerning promotion". The two main teacher groups National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Ghana National Association of Teachers(GNAT), suspended an earlier declaration of strike earlier this year after the intervention of the Chief of Staff, Prosper Bani. Samuel George further stated that, the strike was only to blackmail government or force the hand of government because the motive is to bring pressure on government by parents whose wards are about to write the WASSCE.