Oguaa teachers demand additional duty hour allowance

Cape Coast, May 13, GNA - Teachers in the Cape Coast municipality on Thursday called on the government to, as a matter of urgency, review their responsibility allowances upwards, and also pay them extra duty hours allowance, as being enjoyed by some category of workers. They explained that if nurses and some other workers were enjoying additional duty hour allowances, then teachers whose work involved preparation of lesson notes and marking of exercises, as well as extra curricula activities, also deserve the allowance. The teachers made the call in a resolution adopted at the end of the second quadrennial delegates conference of the municipal branch of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), at Cape Coast. It was under the theme, "Building a New Ghana Through Quality Education".

The teachers also echoed calls on the government to financially assist their colleagues pursuing distance education programmes, and other courses in the universities.

The resolution, further asked for an increase in maternity leave from three to six months, and the provision of adequate funds to cater for allowances and transfer grants to teachers posted to the districts. Ms Christine Churcher, MP for Cape Coast, in a speech read for her, reiterated the importance of quality education in the country's effort to attain a middle-income status by 2015, and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Ms Churcher, in this regard, urged teachers to contribute meaningfully towards the achievement of quality education nationwide, to enhance the growth of the economy.

She gave the assurance that the government would continue to motivate teachers to enable them give of their best, and advised them to seek redress to their grievances through appropriate channels. She told the teachers that they serve as role models for the children they teach, and urged them to refrain from attitudes and behaviours that drag the profession into disrepute, or impact negatively on the children.

Mr Thomas Baafi, Central Regional GNAT secretary described the strike action embarked upon by the members of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) as "unacceptable", and added his voice to calls on the association to call it off.

The branch, later elected Mr John Kofi Sam, as the new municipal chairman of the 10-member executive of the association.