Apam, March 19, GNA – Mr Theophilus Aidoo-Mensah, Gomoa West District Chief Executive has opened the 51st District Delegates Conference of Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) at Apam with the assurance of government’s commitment to improve on their welfare.
The fourth Biennial Conference was on the theme: ‘Education in crisis; The Path to 2015 Teacher Motivation for Quality Education.’
Mr Aidoo-Mensah said government is putting in place efforts to decentralise the processing of documents of newly recruited teachers to avert the delay in payment of their salaries.
The Very Reverend Paa Solomon Grant-Essilfie, General Manager of the Methodist Education Unit who was the Guest Speaker noted that teaching is a noble profession therefore teachers must not bring it into disrepute.
He said education is the basis for the development of human capacity and so when teachers are paid well they would be able to produce more human resources.
Very Grant-Essilfie observed that a teacher who is not motivated to work is as dangerous ‘as a suicide bomber’.
He called on teachers not to see the crisis facing education as the making of the government alone, since it is a shared responsibility.
‘Some of the problems are within the teaching profession; we cannot blame the government for all the problems,’ he said.
He appealed to teachers to work with dedication to enable the government to motivate them better.
Very Rev Grant- Essilfie appealed to the government to provide medical facilities in the rural areas for teachers and also provide them with dressing allowance to enable them to appear neat at all times to serve as role-models.
Mr Archibold Kobina Fuah, Headmaster of the Apam Senior High School and District Chairman of GNAT appealed to his colleagues to see the conference as learning grounds to improve upon their work output.
Mr Nicholas Taylor, District GNAT Secretary in a report said the Association had acquired 100 plots of land for sale to teachers, and two plots of land for the construction of office accommodation and residential accommodation for the District Secretary.
Officers elected are; Chairman, Samuel Bonney, Vice Chairman, David Arthur, Treasurer, Cecilia Essel, Basic School Representative, David Mensah, Second-Cycle Representative, Charles Summey, Trustee, Emmanuel Amoah, Youth Coordinator, Kobina Apoh Arthur, GNAT-LASS Coordinator Henrienta Baah Ewudzie.
GNA