NAGRAT confirms receipt of approval letter but strike continues

Accra, March 2, GNA - The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has confirmed receipt of a copy of the approval letter by the Ministry of Finance authorizing the payment of all outstanding arrears th= at government owes its members.

It, however, said its strike action, which took effect from Monday March 1, 2010 over demands for payment of vehicle maintenance allowance arrears and supervision, among others, would continue until its members confirmed receipt of payment of such arrears.

Mr Stanislaus Napome, General Secretary of NAGRAT, who confirmed thi= s to the Ghana News Agency in an interview on Tuesday, said NAGRAT had had to resort to this position because previous assurances by government to the effect that the money had been released turned out to be false.

Government last Friday released GH¢10 million to the Ghana Educati= on Service (GES) for the payment of all outstanding arrears due members of t= he Service nationwide. Mr Napome said contrary to reports, members of NAGRAT had complied w= ith the industrial action.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has scheduled a meeting w= ith Executives of NAGRAT for Tuesday to convince them to urge members to go b= ack to the classroom as the GES finalizes administrative procedures, paving w= ay for the payment of the arrears.

Mr Paul Kofi Krampa, Head of Public Relations at the MOE, who announ= ced this to the GNA, said the Ministry would issue a public statement as soon= as the meeting was over. 2 March 10