Delays in the payment of teachers' monthly salaries, particularly for newly trained teachers from the University of Cape Coast (UCC), have been blamed on the late release of results by the University. Charles Otoo, Financial Controller of the Ghana Education Service (GES), explained that the service needs to know which teachers passed their examinations before they start processing the necessary documents for payment. Mr Otoo was briefing the media when he toured some data entry units of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to have a first-hand experience on the national payroll system. He explained that every year, the results are released between December and January and this poses a challenge to the service because until the results are released, the process of putting the teachers on their salary does not begin. He said the examinations are often conducted in June, and if the results are released by September, they can work within the period to ensure that all teachers are put on their actual salaries latest by December. Mr Otoo said although the postings are done in September, the salaries are often completed between March and April. He listed other challenges as the frequent break down of the data input systems and the long process involved in the recruitment of staff in the service. Between October and December, for example, he said there has not been one week continuous supply of the data system. Also, the process of recruitment begins from the district, through the regional to the national levels and this naturally causes some delay, even though he said it is necessary to go through such rigours. He explained that an earlier decision to shorten the process by limiting it only to the district level proved unwise as some people took advantage of it to present fake certificates for engagement. Currently, he said the service has 246,000 employees across the country and so the volume of work is very huge which places an additional burden on them. Jeff Onyame, Senior Assistant Registrar in charge of Public Affairs of the UCC, however disagreed that results are released by the university between December and January. "In the case of those who graduated in 2008, for example, their final results were released in September after they wrote their examinations in June," he said and called on the GES not to use the time for the release of results as an excuse to justify the delays in paying teachers. He explained that except for isolated cases of students who have some outstanding papers to write, the normal time for the release of results by the University is latest by October. The head of the Data Room at the office of the Head of Civil Service, Johnson Gaitu, said the unit processes the payment data for 22 MDAs covering personnel records, promotions, postings and contracts, among other issues. Mr Gaitu attributed the delay in processing data at the unit to the fact that some employees provide the accounts of bankers not captured in their systems, particularly the new banks. In such cases he said, the money is paid into the suspect account until such a time that a new bank account is provided. Source: The Ghanaian Times