Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 16 June '99
The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has threatened that it would consider opting out of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to set up its own pension scheme if benefits under the SSNIT scheme do not improve.
Mr Kusi Atansah, Head of Organisation and Administration, GNAT headquarters, gave the warning at Sunyani on Tuesday during a meeting with teachers to discuss the impact of the Price Waterhouse recommendations and other matters affecting the profession.
Mr Atansah pointed out that unlike benefits under the scrapped teachers' pension ordinance of 1955, teachers are extremely dissatisfied with the quantum of retirement benefits they are getting from the SSNIT Pension scheme.
He said as a result, GNAT has contracted a consultant to study the SSNIT Scheme to see how best it could be improved to yield benefits that are closer to or better than what was obtained under the ordinance.
The consultant, Mr Atansah said, is also expected to look into the possibility of teachers setting up their own pension scheme, so that should SSNIT fail to improve its retirement benefits, a more beneficial alternative scheme would be established for teachers.
He noted that if, on the other hand, the studies show that GNAT alone cannot establish a pension fund for its members, it would actively support and encourage other companies to set up an alternative scheme to bring competition into the sector.
"It is our belief that SSNIT's monopoly over the State Pension Scheme is blunting its ability to look for better ways of improving benefits to levels that are close to those of Cap 30", he said.
Mr Atansah contended that with a membership of about 140,000, a pension scheme by teachers and for teachers could be highly feasible.
He revealed that the teachers' fund established last year with 1,000 cedis contribution a member every month is set to yield about 1.8 billion cedis annually.
Mr Atansah said if members would agree to increase their contribution to five thousand cedis every month, the fund could generate seven billion cedis every year.
This, he said, could ultimately form the foundation for teachers' pension scheme.
He gave the assurance that the leadership would not do anything without consulting the various branches and said the appointment of full time secretaries for all the district branches of the association is an indication of efforts being made to improve communication.
Mr Atansah advised the leadership of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) to rejoin the GNAT so that the interest of teaches in the country could be fought with a united voice.
Mr John Nyoagbe, of the Research Department of the Association, took the teachers through the various ranges they have been placed in the new salary scheme.
He said though GNAT is not fully satisfied with some of the classifications, it has decided to use dialogue to get the situation rectified.
The Regional Chairman of GNAT, Nana Kwabena Ameyaw, said the association is not only interested in collecting dues from members but also feeding them with information on efforts being made to improve their lot.
