GNAT permanent positions: An indication teachers want to leave the classrooms

Hundreds of teachers failed the aptitude test organized by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) for District Secretary positions. The examination which was held at the ICT laboratory of the Wisconsin International University, convened headteachers, form masters, subject and classroom teachers as well as existing elected GNAT executives from various regions and districts across the country.

The 80 questions per 45-minute duration had many teachers disappointed when the test came to an end. Participant teachers found it difficult to understand why an aptitude test for a District Secretary position of the oldest and most reputable teacher union had more business-related questions than anticipated areas of labour, education, and general knowledge.

To them, the questions on labour, education and general knowledge as contained in the trial mock test before the main aptitude test was misleading due to the excesses on areas such as human resource, procurement and supply chain management.

Whereas some considered the procurement and human resource questions to favour a few participants who had graduate degrees and professional certifications in business or management, others perceived questions were leaked for the privileged few who had already been considered favourites, thus making participating in the recruitment process a mere employment formality.

The GNAT District Secretary position is a permanent position. It is not like the Secretary position is contested for in the GNAT district elections every four years. The GNAT District Secretary begins with a well-publicized open vacancy that allows teachers on the rank of no less than a Principal Superintendent to apply and go through the full recruitment process.

Unlike a handwritten application, the application process for the District Secretary position is only done online at the www.ghanateachers.org recruitment portal, the main website of GNAT. All documents from application, university degree certificates, CV, two reference letters, to current payslip are converted as PDF or JPEG before being uploaded successfully unto the portal.

After this, most qualified teachers are shortlisted for the first phase, that is the aptitude test. Out of 500 applicants, only about 200 teachers were successful by having the right qualifications and were able to upload all requirements documents. Almost 200 successful applicants qualified for the First Phase of the recruitment process, which is the aptitude test.

Out of these number, only 25 teachers are needed for the second phase of interview to select the best to fill 13 vacant positions of GNAT District Secretary. This means that the District Secretary positions were highly competitive.

Most of the teachers who partook in the aptitude test were of the view that the GNAT District Secretary position had better conditions of service in terms of salary, allowance, and packages that outweigh what teachers get in the classrooms and schools whether they are basic school heads, elected GNAT executives or not.

This is also an opportunity for the ordinary teacher without additional duties as a head of the school or parts of the association to move to the GNAT offices and make something more than what the teacher earns.

It's still a loud silence that the teacher is still struggling for better conditions of service and will not hesitate to leave the classroom when a palpable opportunity avails itself like the GNAT District Secretary or out of the service completely.