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.

According to the Association, the move is to aid the processes leading up to the certification of qualified teachers in Ghana.

This was made known by the newly-elected President of GNAT, Philippa Larsen, at Cape Coast on Saturday.

She garnered 568 votes to beat the two other contestants, at the 2018 5th Quadrennial and 52nd National Delegates Conference, to become the substantive President of GNAT.

She said, “I want the maximum support and respect for the Ghanaian teacher, so some people who don’t qualify as teachers but have found their way into the profession, we will weed them out”.

Defending her assertion, Philippa Larsen continued that, “We will get the right people who are teachers in order to enhance the proper image of the teaching profession, and this will make our certification as professionals smooth”.

Mrs Larsen, who prior to her election had been the acting President of GNAT, also appealed to teachers who have left GNAT to return to the Association.

She intimated that other GNAT members who left the Association some few years ago had returned prior to the conference.

“I am begging those who are still out to come back, and I assure them they will enjoy belonging to GNAT,” she added.

The delegates also elected Afelibiek Ababu as the Vice President, while Hannah Odjenma Botchway was elected National Treasurer.

The Ghana National Association of Teachers is the largest teacher union in the country with a membership of several thousand.

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By: Joseph Ackon-Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post We’ll weed out unqualified teachers – GNAT Boss vows appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Association said it continues to receive complaints from teachers that they were being compelled to fill a “weaver of T and T” form to go on transfer, while they had not made any request to be transferred.

The situation GNAT viewed as a blatant violation of the collective agreement and the regulations governing transfers, adding that “transfers must be done with all humility and fairness”.

[contextly_sidebar id=”NMrMMZhnKQVT3ynjrnoLDv4ZuGuvbrxG”]Consequently, GNAT has sounded a word of caution to the GES to desist from such practices because it could amount to huge judgment debt.

Mr William Abedi Boadu, Central Regional Secretary of GNAT, who expressed these sentiments in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, advised that in the expected transfers, GES should ensure that funds are secured to pay the legitimate entitlements of the affected teachers to bring about a smooth exercise.

He said while the employer had the right to deploy employees to where their services were most needed, employees’ right to claim their legitimate entitlements should not be stifled.

“Ambiguous statements like ‘T and T’ to be borne by the teacher and re-imbursed as and when funds are available as stated in most of the transfer letters are not acceptable. The rights thing must be done. Directors must respect the regulations governing transfers,” he said.

Mr. Boadu said GNAT had received summon letters from lawyers of affected teachers, stating that the transfers of their clients were not done in good faith, describing the trend as “worrying”.

He said the concerns raised by GNAT followed previous failure by the GES to pay teachers legitimate entitlements.

He advised teachers to take advantage of the system opportunities to empower themselves to be able to fight for their rights.

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Source: GNA

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According to the Ghana Education Service (GES), its management is awaiting the release of their final examination results for the posting to commence.

[contextly_sidebar id=”o9k0J6k57pXHjmYBuCy8fyIMo0Kv7ftE”]A press release from the GES said: “Management is awaitng the release of their final examination results from the Diploma awarding institutions, which our information indicates would be released by early next week.”

The release of these results “would enable management to post successful graduates to full vacancies in places where their services are needed.”

The GES acknowledged the delay in posting the teachers, and assured that “all resources at the disposal of the service would be mobilized to ensure that the postings are effected immediately the results are released.”

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post GES to post new teachers by next week appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This is coming amid apprehension that most primary and secondary schools in Nigeria are churning out half-baked students.

Kaduna Governor Nasir el-Rufai said qualified teachers would be employed to replace the dismissed teachers.

It is unclear when this will happen.

A senior official in the state told the BBC that more tests would also be carried out in the coming weeks for secondary school teachers to determine their suitability.

Analysts say the figures are a terrible reminder of the deplorable state of education in Nigeria, where it is alleged that the hiring of teachers has always been politicised.

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Source: BBC

The post Nigeria: 20,000 teachers to be sacked for failing exams meant for pupils appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

They say they have not been paid for the past 6 months.

Abubakar Suale, the leader of the group, which calls itself the National Association of Newly Recruited Teachers, said, “We were posted last year, we have worked for about 7 months and they have paid about 90% of us only one month’s salary. We went to meet the education minister and he gave us full assurance that they are going pay us in full and we wrote several letters to them but they have not paid anything.”

He said the group is forced to embark on the strike as a result of government’s poor response to their concerns.

“It is not easy. Some of us went to borrow money just to rent rooms at our various stations. We are not finding it easy with those that we owe, that is why we also mounting this pressure on the government. We’ve been waiting for long, that is why we are have resolved to strike on 2^nd October,” he added.

Many different teacher groups have in recent times registered their displeasure over government’s failure to pay them salaries and allowances.

Earlier this year, the Coalition of newly trained teachers threatened to lay down their tools, if the government did not pay them their accumulated salaries.

The teachers, numbering over twenty thousand, said they had not been paid since they were posted in September 2016.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Newly recruited teachers to strike on October 2 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

As he launched the policy at the West Africa Senior High School in Accra today [Tuesday], the President said quality teacher training was essential to achieving the educational reforms to the fullest.

[contextly_sidebar id=”hKyI49MjN8NbSodLBr3hxqY83R56C6TJ”]Committing to the development of teachers would be in line with the latter part of goal 4, target 1 of the Sustainable Development Goals, which notes that free and equitable secondary educations must lead “to relevant and effective learning outcomes.”

“If we are to succeed as a nation and if we accept that education is central to national development, then it is clear that quality teacher training is vital to our nation’s development.”

“It is for this reason that we are committed to teacher professional development through schemes such as Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL),” the President stated.

An amount of 70 million pounds has so far been channeled into T-TEL, according to President Akufo-Addo.

The T-TEL is s a four-year government programme to support the implementation of the new policy framework for Pre-Tertiary Teacher Professional Development and Management.

This programme, with support from UK’s department for international development, seeks to transform the delivery of pre-service teacher education in Ghana by improving the quality of teaching and learning in relevant national bodies, institutions and all 40 Colleges of Education.

Aside from this, President Akufo-Addo said teachers will also be uplifted by “the restoration of the teacher training allowance.

He added that it was “part of the comprehensive policy of engendering the production of quality teachers.”

These commitments to teachers form part of President Akufo-Addo’s pledge to ensure that the Free SHS programme does not compromise quality education in the country.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Free SHS: We haven’t forgotten teacher dev’t – Nana Addo appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

It is to equip the teachers with the skills to be able to impart to the pupils in Kindergarten Two, Primary One and Primary Two stages the right knowledge and ability to familiarise themselves with the local languages.

Mr Nicholas Asamoah, a facilitator of the programme, told reporters in an interview on Tuesday at Dormaa-Ahenkro in the Brong-Ahafo Region.

[contextly_sidebar id=”v398IxqTQpMWGH1zs2ER4mYphbAHoqIJ”]He said research has shown that less than two percent of children in public schools were able to read and write in familiar Ghanaian languages and become effective in communicating in oral English.

Mr Asamoah said through the training programme, the children would be positioned better to communicate effectively in their native languages which could easily be translated into a second language as claimed by experts.

He said 100 districts in the country were benefiting from the training programme sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and Ministry of Education with an amount of 170 million US Dollars.

Mr Asamoah said the two-week programme slated to end on Saturday August 19 was designed to train 140 participants including head teachers and curriculum leaders per week.

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Source: GNA

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The move, according to the NTC, is to enforce discipline and eliminate non-performing teachers from the system, in accordance with the new Teachers Licencing Policy under the Education Act 778 (2008).

Dr. Augustine Tawiah, Executive Secretary-designate of the National Teaching Council of the Ministry of Education, disclosed this in Accra last week at the closing ceremony of a five-day intensive in-service training workshop for teachers in the Greater Accra Region.

The workshop which was attended by 297 subject teachers in the Primary, Junior and Senior High Schools was organised by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) with support from the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF).

According to Dr. Tawiah, all formalities for the full implementation of the Act had been finalised and a secretariat to issue the licence had been established.

He disclosed that beginning next January, the ministry would undertake re-registration of all teachers in the country to facilitate the issuance of the licences.

He said, no teacher could teach in any school in the country without the Teacher’s Licence from next year.
Dr. Tawiah explained that renewal of the licence would be based on professional competence and development of teachers, stressing that, all teachers would be expected to renew their licence within three to five years.

“There are some teachers who, right after graduation from the training colleges, do not upgrade their knowledge in their subject areas and also do not upgrade their teaching skills and methodology.

Teachers who would apply for renewal of licence must prove they have personally undertaken some professional upgrading of knowledge and skills” he said.

Dr. Tawiah mentioned that teachers who teach students to fail continuously in examinations like the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and other local and national examinations would not get their licences renewed.

He emphasised that the licence was to get rid of lazy and non-performing teachers in the educational sector, adding that it would require teachers to prove their competence and achieve results, in their areas of specialisations.

Dr. Tawiah noted that new teachers would receive their licences after graduation next year, but those already in the system must provide evidence and prove to the ministry of their achievements in the teaching profession to renew their licence.

He disclosed that, the ministry and the National Teaching Council (NTC) would soon embark on public education and deepen consultations on the new Teacher’s Licensing Policy to ensure a smooth take-off next year.

The National President of GNAT, Paul Agyei Boakye disclosed that, the in-service training for teachers in the Greater Accra Region was the third and last training workshop for teachers this year after a similar one in the Western and Central Regions.

He encouraged participants to let what they had learnt at the workshop reflect in their teaching when they return to their respective schools.
He also advised the participants and teachers in general, to be punctual at school and avoid absenteeism.

Mr. Boakye expressed gratitude to the CTF delegation to Ghana for the collaboration in the in-service training workshop for teachers in the country.
Mr. Lyle Watling, Team Leader of CTF, disclosed that GNAT and CTF collaboration dated back some 20 years ago.

According to him, the collaboration had been mutually beneficial and reiterated their commitment to support Ghanaian teachers.

The Deputy General Secretary of GNAT in-charge of Education and Professional Development, Mr. Thomas Baafi, disclosed that two new components of training were added to this year’s workshop.

These are the New Entrant Programme to help newly trained teachers to integrate smoothly into the teaching profession, and the “Nkabom Project” to assist teachers in deprived communities with professional training and teaching materials.

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Source: Ghanaian Times

The post Teachers to write licence exams appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the group, all efforts to draw government’s attention to their situation and pursue it to post them to schools to teach have proven futile.

The spokesperson of the group, Mark Donkor told Citi News they were unhappy that the Ghana Education Service was being dishonest in attempts to justify why they have not been posted.

He lamented that despite the existing vacancies in schools, the Ghana Education Service has given headmasters a directive not to recruit new teachers.

“When we went to the school to request for assurance letters, the information we had was that there are vacancies… but the GES has warned them not to give anyone assurance letters.”

Mark Donkor said the GES has refused to attend to their situation despite their incessant calls.
He claimed the GES had begun recruitment of other trainee teachers but has neglected them, a development he said was “devilish.”

“We’ve told the GES about the situation and since then, we’ve not heard anything…“There is no sign they are going to recruit us but we have information that they are recruiting other people who do not have educational background… You always cry for teachers, the University will train teachers and they will graduate to become a burden to teachers and I don’t know how to describe this, it is seriously devilish,” he said.

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By: Marie-Franz Fordjoe/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Unemployed graduate teachers slam gov’t for selective recruitment appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.