This is after the Chairman of the committee, Ken Amankwah, announced that farms were established in about 400 second cycle institutions to boost food production as part of activities marking Ghana’s 60th anniversary in 2017.

[contextly_sidebar id=”BJPZVBJFMBjtAaz7lIYcpwPGwe3Qg6Bv”]Speaking to Citi News, the President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu disputed the claim and charged the committee to substantiate same.

“I am surprised to hear that… which schools? When were the farms established? What is the yield per school? Are Accra schools part of it? We have in Ghana about 570 senior high schools. If you have established farms in more than 400, we would want to know which schools and what is the yield per school,” he said.

According to him, there were no farms in the many schools he has visited.

“For the school I teach in and the several schools I visited as a result of my work, I did not see farms in those schools. So I am very surprised by the assertion of the head of the Ghana@60 committee. But It will be interesting  to know the type of crops cultivated and the yield per school.”

The Ghana@60 committee revealed that it was unable to carry out all of its planned programmes due to a lack of funds.

One other notable educational intervention, the provision of 60 libraries in deprived areas across all 10 regions, did not materialize because the company that submitted the proposal for the construction of the libraries, West Blue, was bought by a new company.

“We could not construct the libraries…It was a proposal that was brought by West Blue consortium who were formerly a digital company. The company unfortunately left and its work was taken over by another company, but the company that came in was not interested in the proposal,” Ken Amankwah explained.

Call for auditing of Committee’s accounts 

The Ashanti Regional Youth Organizer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Brogya Genfi, rubbished the reasons given by the Ghana@60 committee for being unable to execute a majority of its proposed projects.

He does called on the President to direct the Auditor General to audit the accounts of the committee.

Though the committee said it  was able to raise less than half of its target of GHc 20 million, Brogya Genfi believes the committee received enough funds from corporate entities, and says an audit will help unravel other details about the committee’s work.

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By: Anass Seidu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to the Association, it will take a concrete decision after a meeting with its Council members following government’s announcement that it had partially cleared the debt.

[contextly_sidebar id=”mmANeFWrvtFnPzB2wJgWsk4uMEEup1Uq”]NAGRAT’s intended strike was to protest its unpaid allowances that had accumulated from 2013.

NAGRAT President, Angel Carbonu, at a press conference last week said “we are owed vehicle maintenance allowance, we are also owed transfer grants, and then we are also owed transport and travel allowances. All these amounts to over 50 million cedis, and there is also salary arrears of those who have been recruited into the Ghana Education Service, and they have taught for months and have not been paid for those months that they have taught. They also owe us allowances and arrears that ought to be paid, and all these we are not getting any clear indication as to government’s determination to pay these monies, so once we have a situation like this, we are affected by government’s ineptitude to address the issues.”

The government through the Ministry of Finance is on record to have released some 14 million cedis to the Education Ministry to defray some of the arrears owed.

This was announced by Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

But speaking to Citi News, Mr. Carbonu said NAGRAT will hold some meetings to find the way forward.

“When we are going to embark on any such action, we would have to sit with the Council and the Council takes a definite decision. The announcement that government had paid 14 million came on Friday. We are going to carry that announcement to the table and a final decision will be arrived at,” he said.

He noted that the Council will need clarity from the government on which category of teachers the released funds will cater for, and when the remaining amount will be paid to determine its next line of action.

“If all these things are done and we are sure that within the shortest possible time, the monies will be paid to members, it will influence our decision,” he added.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post NAGRAT puts intended strike on hold appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Executives include Eric Angel Carbonu as President, Jacob Anaba as Vice President and Samuel Frank Dadzie as General Secretary.

The rest are Mr Michael Ayuraboya as Deputy General Secretary, Mr Isaac Lamptey as Finance Officer,  Dr. Harriet k Annan as Publicity & Organizing Secretary and Madam Rebecca A Ocran as Ladies Of Excellence Coordinator.

They took the official Oath which was administered by a High Court Judge.

The Minister of Education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh who was the guest of honour charged incoming executives to continue to engage government through dialoging to address pertinent issues. He also assures the association that government will continue to support their course.

The Immediate past President of the Association, Christain Addae Poku thank members of the Association for their immense support.

The newly sworn in NAGRAT president, Eric Angel Carbonu, used the opportunity to call on the government to withdraw the Education Decentralisation Bill.

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By: Kojo Agyeman/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Photo Credit: Laila Abubakari

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Speaking on Citi FM’s news analysis programme, The Big Issue on Saturday, Mr. Carbonu said government must instead find sustainable ways of funding the free SHS programme.

“You cannot be certain the amount of contributions that will come, and without certainty you cannot plan,” he explained.

[contextly_sidebar id=”GEm9bPCpel61arcPgDFrjat8V3Npiw6A”]The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, while presenting the 2018 budget statement to Parliament on Wednesday, said government is in the process of setting up a fund to receive voluntary contributions from individuals to support the implementation of its flagship Free Senior High School programme, and the education sector as a whole.

The move has been criticized mostly by members of the minority who say it has exposed government’s inability to secure the needed funding to sustain the programme.

Mr. Carbonu also reiterated earlier claims by some civil society organisations that the over GHc1 billion budgetary allocation for the free SHS programme in 2018 is “woefully inadequate.”

“Let me say that, information getting to me indicates that, we do not even have the full complement of even the 20 percent that has to go to the schools. The amount of money quoted as the budget for free SHS, when you put all the items on the table, it does not cater for all the needs… There is the need for us to sit down as a people, and stop this I want to look good mantra, and let us tackle the hard core issues – to provide for ourselves resources to be able to run our country. What we are doing is the blanket doling out of people to go to senior high school, and it will not be sustainable in the future,” he cautioned.

The incoming NAGRAT President also called on government to channel its attention to basic schools in the country, which are severely challenged in many areas.

You can’t rely on voluntary contributions for Free SHS- Ablakwa

National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for the North Tongu Constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has said the government cannot afford to rely on voluntary contributions to fund education, particularly free SHS, as projections for those funds may not materialize.

According to Ablakwa, putting a lot of expectations on money which would be accrued from the fund could backfire as it may not appeal to Ghanaians enough to voluntarily contribute to it.

“No country runs public education on just voluntary funds. What if the Fund is not considered attractive and you don’t really get as much as you are expecting. We can’t leave the destiny of our children’s quality education to just a voluntary fund where we don’t really know the projections. You cannot just depend on voluntary funds, you can’t run education that way. You need a concrete plan and you need a well-defined funding source. It’s clear that government is struggling to fund it and struggling to identify a clear funding source.”

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Voluntary Fund for Free SHS needless – Carbonu appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Mr. Carbonu on Citi FM’s news analysis Programme , The Big Issue, sent a direct appeal to the Chairman of the Ghana Education Service (GES) Council who was also on the show, Michael Nsowah, to “put in a word” for the two to be reinstated.

[contextly_sidebar id=”nMAzhbd3xjftuD910NK1BuM107p0s9ph”]In his appeal, Mr. Carbonu said: “My boss, as an executive of your teacher unions , I’m pleading on behalf of heads of interdicted heads of schools that if you can put in a word for those heads to be reprimanded and reinstated.”

The two teachers were dismissed after some 19 teachers, including the two, were invited for questioning by the GES on Thursday, to respond to allegations that they were requesting parents and guardians to pay fees already absorbed by the government under its free SHS policy.

Mr. Cabornu believes the teachers might have committed what he describes as “mistakes” because the free SHS policy is an entirely new programme they [headteachers] were not familiar with.

“It is a new programme and we are all learning to correct our mistakes like the programme itself is correcting its mistakes.”

Social Commentator, Sydney Casely Hayford, in a sharp rebuttal  downplayed Mr. Carbonu’s appeal, insisting that the two had to be sanctioned for breaching the law.

“The guys have been found breaking the rules. They have deliberately done it to their own personal advantage. They have to face the consequences.”

Dismissal of head teachers “too harsh”

The President of NAGRAT, Christian Addae Poku, had earlier described the dismissal as harsh, adding that the GES failed to follow due process in exacting punishment on the two.

“As unions, we are really worried about the development. Much as we appreciate that the employer would have to do everything to make sure that the right thing has to be done, we believe that listening to what has transpired over the past few hours, it is clear that due process has not been properly followed especially with regards to the two people who have been virtually demoted as headmasters. We want to draw GES’ attention to it,” Addae Poku argued.

The headmaster of Pentecost SHS in Koforidua, Mr. Blasu Wisdom, is one of the head teachers relieved of his post for allegedly charging illegal fees, and he is to also to be re-posted to teach in a classroom.

The assistant headmaster of Duffor SHS, Rev. S P Elewokor, was also relieved of his post and is to be re-posted to teach in the classroom.

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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According to NAGRAT, the directive is too sudden and will be unfair to the affected teachers.

The Ministry of Finance has instructed the Controller and Accountant General’s Department, not to pay salaries to 26,589 employees who have not been captured in the ongoing SNIT biometric registration.

[contextly_sidebar id=”omTPdmoB8r0NtPq8io4gL3CyygY1jAZW”]The Ministry also announced the suspension of payment of SSNIT contribution to some 23,029 employees, because they could not be accounted for in a nationwide head count which ended on the 22nd of October 2016.

The directive if implemented, will affect about 50,000 workers.

But speaking to Citi News, Vice President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu, said government must heed their calls to avoid labour unrest in the country.

“We have written to the Ministry of Finance that we will not accept a situation where at the end of this month some workers will not be paid. So long as those workers have worked and were at post working, we will not accept the situation where they will not be paid. If anything at all, let them give us a period, we asked for a one month moratorium, publish the names, let us identify our members and if they have to register biometric, they register biometrically.”

“We have tried to maintain the peaceful labour atmosphere for this month. We would advise ourselves of several labour actions that we would have to take because we feel that it is a legitimate right to pay someone who has worked. The only relationship we have with the controller and accountant general is that, controller pays those who have exercised their duties dutifully and controller should stop allowing other agencies to influence its fundamental responsibility of paying workers,” he added.

NAGRAT writes to Ministry of Finance

NAGRAT had earlier written to the Finance Ministry to suspend it directive saying such a move could result in total chaos in the country.

“Much as we agree that you may have good reasons for that decision, we wish to draw your attention that such an action, if carried out, has the potential of disturbing the peaceful environment we have enjoyed over the past few months,” NAGRAT stated in a letter addressed to the Minister of Finance.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post NAGRAT threatens demo over SSNIT biometric registration appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.