The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) in the Upper West Region wants the government to expedite action on the signing of the Collective Agreement, otherwise known as the Scheme and Terms of Service for teachers, which was drafted by the teacher unions in conjunction with the Ghana Education Service, GES and presented to the government.
Making the call, the Regional Secretary for GNAT, Mr Kwame Dagbandau hinted that teachers did not have any scheme of service at the moment as the old one had expired and the new one that was drafted had still not been assented to by government.
According to him, the collective agreement detailed the terms of service of teachers and these included issues about benefits and promotions.
Mr Dagbandau stated this at a durbar to mark the 88th anniversary of the association at Wa on Friday on the theme “88 Years of GNAT Existence, Impact on Members, Ghana Education Service and the Upper West Community”.
GNAT is an organisation of teachers in the Pre-tertiary educational institutions and offices in Ghana and was established in 1931 by teachers who thought it wise to join forces to fight for their collective good. It is currently made up of about 230,000 members with 9,000 of them in the region.
The secretary said there was the need to get the collective agreement working so that teachers would have basis to demand for their rights.
He also urged the government to expedite the payment of teacher’s salary arrears even though they had been forced to call off the strike, saying it was only the payment of the arrears that would encourage teachers to give off their best at work.
Touching on other issues, Mr Dagbandau indicated that GNAT was committed to the welfare of its members and had therefore paid “juicy end of-service packages” to its members per their contribution to the Scheme.
“From September 2018 to August 2019, GNAT paid monies amounting to GH31,000 to members who were critically ill or had been hit by natural disasters in the Upper West Region. We gave bursaries to 30 females and paid the school fees of 11 needy but brilliant girls at the Senior High level,” he stated.
The secretary used the opportunity to invite more teachers to join the association while urging government to advance the welfare of teachers as they were the main contributors to the development of the human resources needed for the development of the nation.
FROM LYDIA DARLINGTON FORDJOUR , WA
