GNAT accuses government of bad faith as World Teachers day is marked on Oct 5

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has criticised government for showing bad faith in not paying the 20 percent Deprived Area Allowance for teachers since 2009.

According to the workers union, government must also address the concerns of teachers on promotions and upgrade or risk more agitations in the coming days.

General Secretary of GNAT, Thomas Tanko Musah said this in an interview in Accra on October 4.

October 5 every year has been set aside globally to recognize the role of teachers. The theme for this year’s World Teachers Day is “Valuing Teachers Voices- Towards a new Social Contract for Education”. Mr Tanko Musah is displeased about how government has treated teachers so far.

He cited the delay in their promotion and 20% Deprived Area Allowance which has affected their upward adjustment on the Single Spine Salary Structure.

Already, the current situation coupled with the delay to approve the conditions of service has generated tension.

The Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service have appealed to the teachers to halt any further agitations and demonstration to allow their issues to be addressed.

But Mr Tanko Musah has accused them of bad faith.

“The only way to avoid agitations is to do what is right, we have gone to negotiate, the GES knows what to do, don’t wait for workers to begin to take action before you will say come and let us talk that is bad faith.”

“The things you want to do, do them that is social dialogue, keep your promises to the teachers keep them, because we cannot all gather and agree on something then instead of getting the thing done you pretend as if you have forgotten,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the General Secretary has lauded the role of teachers in moulding students’ character and also contributing to nation development.

“We as teachers, we are also concerned about the character of children, when you give somebody knowledge and you build the character you are in for trouble.”

“Now when students are coming to school they come with weapon, some with knives and all those things so we are gradually losing the character bit,” he lamented.

According to him, “Hitherto, the teachers had the power to tame that particular character bit by moulding them to become responsible citizens but now the students that we are training we give them knowledge, but we cannot tame them”.

“We see them on social media misbehaving and all kinds of things, today students can go together and go call their parents and form parents student association then they come and beat up the teacher in the classrooms. Formerly you will not hear those things”

“So by the time the child comes out of school the issue of being patriotic is lost on the child, the child doesn’t have respect for the elderly, can insult elderly people”.

“So the question is how far have we come? Like I said in terms of the knowledge base, we are doing well, but the affective we have lost it and I will not be surprised that we even have to set up military barracks in all the secondary schools because of the way the students are behaving. They come to school with weapons so soon we may have to create military barracks across all the campuses so that the soldiers can be there, or the police can be there to protect life and property,” Mr Musah bemoaned.

Source:onuaonline.com