GNAT Council Walks Out on Deputy Education Minister Over Unfulfilled Laptop Promise

The National Council of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has reportedly walked out on Deputy Education Minister Prof. Kingsley Nyarko and his management team, expressing frustration over the government’s failure to honor its promise to provide laptops to teachers across the country.

In 2021, the government deducted 30% from teachers’ salaries to fund the “One Teacher One Laptop” project. However, despite these deductions, over 50,000 teachers nationwide have yet to receive their laptops, sparking widespread discontent among the teaching community.

The tension came to a head at the annual national council meeting in Kumasi, where some teachers and council members booed the Deputy Minister for Education as he attempted to deliver his speech. Chants of “Away! Away! No laptop no Council meeting!” filled the room, preventing Prof. Nyarko from addressing the gathering.

The disruption of the meeting underscores the deep frustration felt by educators. “Over two and a half years now, some of our members haven’t received their laptops. Mainly some teachers at the kindergarten, education officers, and the Arabic teachers and some primary school teachers,” stated Sarfo Sarpong, District Chairman of GNAT-Afigya Kwabre, speaking on behalf of the group.

In May this year, GNAT and two other teacher unions embarked on a nationwide strike to demand better service conditions. Despite mediation by the National Labour Commission, which set a deadline for the government to supply the outstanding laptops by the end of June, the promise remains unfulfilled.

“Today, July 22, there are still over 50,000 laptops left to be supplied,” Sarfo Sarpong added. The teachers argue that the absence of these laptops is adversely impacting teaching and learning, especially in remote areas, as the national curriculum has been uploaded onto the laptops.

Evans Temetey, District Chairperson for Manya Krobo, expressed further frustration: “Some teachers have to do this manually. We claim to be digitalizing, what’s about the teaching space? They’ve decided to give tablets to the students when we, teachers, need them for teaching.”

The unfulfilled promise has also led to tensions between local leaders and their members. One district chairperson recounted a recent incident: “I went for BECE monitoring and the teachers attacked me, demanding where their laptops were. It is really embarrassing to have someone who has only spent 4 years in the teaching profession insult me who has been in this for close to two decades.”

The GNAT council has given the government a one-week ultimatum to commence the distribution of the outstanding laptops. The situation remains tense as educators await the government’s response to their demands.

Source: ghananewsonline.com.gh