Three hundred and thirty C/R teachers for study leave with pay

Cape Coast, Aug. 6, GNA - Three hundred and thirty teachers in the Central Region, who qualify for study leave with pay, have been selected to upgrade themselves in their fields of study at the university. Mrs Justina Torjagbo, Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), who made this known when she chaired the closing ceremony of a weeklong in-service training for teachers, stated that the selection process had been decentralized, and was being done by a committee made up of officials from the regional and district offices. The training workshop was organised by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), with support from the Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF), which also provided resource persons. Three thousand teachers nationwide are to benefit from the study leave, this academic year.

Mrs Torjagbo said the in-service training was necessary because, it would help upgrade participants to update themselves to avoid the "archaic" method of teaching and commended the organizers for their immense role in supporting the GES to achieve its goals. The Deputy General Secretary of GNAT, Mr John Nyoagbe, appealed to the government to immediately issue a white paper on the report by the Presidential Commission on Pensions since teachers who were the agitators for the review of the SSNIT pensions' scheme were anxious to know the outcome of the report.

He said one of the objectives of the GNAT was to promote the professional development of its members and urged government not to renege on its promise to absorb the fees of teachers pursuing distance and sandwich education.

Their meagre allowances should also be reviewed upwards to forestall any action that would bring upheavals in the delivery of quality education, he declared.

The Regional Minister, Mr Isaac Edumadze for his part, assured them that the government was still negotiating with the various universities on the fees of the beneficiary teachers since the earlier one presented was very high and 'scary'.