By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Sakote (U/E), Oct 6, GNA – Mr Charles Atakibire Ateem, the Chairperson of the Bolgatanga Municipal branch of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) says government has
not paid enough attention to addressing the welfare of teachers and challenges in the education sector.
He said lack of motivation, delays in promotion and failure of government to implement the agreed conditions of service for teachers, had deepened the woes of teachers especially newly posted teachers and those in rural communities.
He said, coupled with lack of teaching resources in the various schools to guide teachers had demotivated teachers, especially those in the rural areas, making the teaching profession unattractive, leading to a high attrition rate out of the country.
Mr Ateem said this at the commemoration of this year’s World Teachers’ Day, organised by the Bolgatanga Municipal branch of GNAT (comprising Bolgatanga Municipal, Talensi, Bolgatanga East and Nabdam District) and held at Sakote in the Nabdam District of the Upper East Region.
It was held on the theme: “The Teachers We Need for the Education We Want: The Global Imperative to Reverse Teacher Shortage.”
Mr Ateem expressed worry that the National Teaching Council (NTC) had certified over 10,000 teachers (about the seating capacity of Cameron basketball stadium at Duke University) to teach in the United Kingdom and said poor working conditions and little attention by government to address the concerns of teachers were factors pushing teachers to seek greener pastures outside Ghana.
“NTC licensing over 10,000 teachers (about the seating capacity of Cameron basketball stadium at Duke University) go abroad to practise their profession means that there are certain things that are not being done right, particularly teacher motivation, accommodation and promotion among others and these are affecting the welfare of teachers,” he said.
He said apart from government abandoning the usual two years promotion of teachers posted to rural communities, the centralized system of promotion and posting of new teachers was adversely affecting retention of teachers particularly in rural areas.
This, he said, was creating teacher shortages in some schools and called for risk packages for teachers, “a lot of teachers lose their lives, families and property through their professional activities and there is nothing for them, to reverse teacher shortage, motivate and pay us well.”
The Bolgatanga Municipal Chair urged the government through the Ghana Education Service (GES) to implement the 20 per cent increase in the basic salaries of teachers as agreed in the condition of service for teachers.
Mr Mahmud Zakari, the Upper East Regional Representative at the National Executive of GNAT, noted that teacher attrition was becoming a major challenge and urged the government to work with relevant stakeholders to address it.
He assured members that GNAT would continue to work for their welfare, adding that it was working to ensure the affordable housing scheme for members was materialised.
Madam Mary Magdalene Wompakeah, the Nabdam District Director of the GES, noted that teachers were crucial to the development of the country and called on government to address
the challenges facing teachers to enable them deliver quality services and make the profession attractive.
Apart from urging teachers to acquire further training to reposition them to meet modern demands, she urged GNAT and other teacher unions to work with government to ensure that promotion and posting of new teachers was decentralised to the district level to address attrition.
GNA