NATIONAL EXECUTIVE OF GNAT INTERACTS WITH TEACHERS (PAGE 36)

THE national executive of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has held a meeting with members of the association in the Ahafo-Ano North District to brief them on developments affecting their welfare and profession.
The meeting was in line with the efforts of the national executive of the association to reach out to teachers in all parts of the country to ginger them up so that they could give their best in the classrooms.
Addressing teachers at Tepa, the National President of GNAT, Mr Joseph Adjei, called for enhanced salaries for workers to serve as compensation for the postponement of the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS).
He said organised labour showed faith with the government by agreeing to the postponement of the SSSS and it was only appropriate that the government reciprocated the gesture by coming out with improved salaries for workers.
Mr Adjei said better salaries would also help avert any possible strike action by workers.
He said workers were suffering under the harsh economic conditions and could not continue to wait any longer, especially as the SSSS was due for implementation in 2010.
Mr Adjei stated that the recent hikes in fuel prices had contributed to the increasing cost of living and seriously eroded the purchasing power of workers.
He also spoke against the postponement of the implementation of the Pension Act 2008, saying the current situation was not good.
The GNAT president said the association wanted to see the speedy implementation of the scheme so that on retirement, teachers would have something to show for their sacrifices for their nation.
He gave the assurance that GNAT would continue to place emphasis on the continuous education of its members to enable them to come to terms with changing trends in their profession.
Mr Adjei expressed concern that teachers who qualified for promotion to the rank of deputy directors of education had not been invited for interviews since 2001.
Consequently, he called on the Ghana Education Service (GES) Council to rectify the anomaly to assuage the anxiety and disaffection of the affected teachers.
Mr Adjei said the development could kill the enthusiasm of teachers in the discharge of their duties and added that teachers deserved to be motivated to enable them to give their best.
The District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr David Addai Amankwah, implored teachers to help instil discipline in schoolchildren.
He said teaching was a noble profession and anyone who underrated teachers would be doing so at his or her own risk.
The DCE appealed to GNAT to decentralise some of its activities to the district and local levels.
The District Chairman of GNAT, Mr Andrews Forkuo, called on the national secretariat to provide a means of transport for the district office to facilitate the work of the staff.