GNAT unhappy with delay in payment of new teachers

The Deputy National General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, Mr John Nyoagbe, has expressed dismay over undue delay in payment of newly trained teachers employed by the Ghana Education Service.

He said a situation whereby newly trained teachers are not paid for two years and more is unacceptable, saying, it serves as a disincentive to the young teachers to give off their best.

He therefore called on the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to put mechanisms in place to check the undue delay in payment of new teachers' salary to avert the inconveniences.

Mr Nyoagbe made the call at the end of a five-day in-service training workshop for over hundred teachers drawn from the Western Region at Fijai, on Friday.

The workshop was jointly organized by the Ghana National Association of Teachers(GNAT) and the Canadian Teachers Federation (CTF) and funded by the Canadian Development Agency.

Some of the courses treated at the workshop included summary writing, counselling, basic administration, preparation of lesson notes, practical teaching of Science and Mathematics, HIV and AIDS education, among others.

Mr Nyoagbe also expressed dissatisfaction over the late promotion of teachers, who had worked hard over the years and appealed to the GES to promote deserving teachers on time to propel them to give off their best.

“For teachers to give off their best, there is the need for Government and all stakeholders to provide adequate infrastructure and resources in order to ensure quality education delivery,” he added.

He charged the teachers to share the knowledge acquired with their colleagues to ensure that, every student benefit from the training programme.

The Deputy General Secretary indicated that, the exchange programme between GNAT and CTF had been going on for over 50 years, which had enhanced the professional skills and knowledge of teachers of both countries.

He asked teachers to be diligent and exhibit positive work attitude at both the school and in the communities in which they work.

He urged them to imbue positive values in their students and pupils so that they could also contribute their quota to national development.

The Sekondi-Takoradi Director of Education, Nana Kofi Mbeah, noted that, teaching is an exciting and noble profession and charged them to give off their best.

He said teaching is dynamic and advised teachers to continuously improve upon their knowledge and skills to enable them to offer the best to their students.

Certificates were presented to teachers, who excelled in the five-day course.