By Nicholas Osei-Wusu
President Akufo-Addo has announced that as part of the educational reforms, first degree will soon become the basic academic qualification for the employment of new teachers into the Public School System.
It is for this reason that all the Colleges of Education have been upgraded into four-year degree-awarding institutions, while some of the traditional Universities are also offering Bachelor’s programmes in education.
President Akufo-Addo made this known when he officially opened the 6th Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, GNAT in the Ashanti region.
The Ghana National Association of Teachers, GNAT, as a Trade Union started in the colonial era undergoing various name changes as Ghana Teachers Union in 193, until July 1964 when it first adopted its current name, GNAT.
It is the foremost welfare and umbrella body for teachers in the Public Pre-Tertiary Educational System and boasts of having the largest membership than any other within the educational system in Ghana.
It is affiliated to the Ghana Trades Union Congress, GTUC.
GNAT, since its establishment more than 90 years ago, has made great strides in pursuing teachers socio-economic interest ranging from rural healthcare, the Teachers’ fund, the GNAT Village at Abankro near Ejisu in the Ashanti region, acquisition of the Ghana-Sweden Medical Centre among other welfare packages for its members.
The Association is almost through with its plan to establish its Institute for Research and Industrial Relations Studies for capacity development of teachers in general. The Association has as well endured challenging times during the 90-year period. The 6th National Quadrennial Delegates Conference will see the replacement of the entire current National Executives of the Association with a new team to manage its affairs until 2026.
The Conference is also serving as the climax of the year-long commemoration of the 90th Anniversary with President Akufo-Addo and the first-ever female national President of the Association jointly cutting the Anniversary cake.
The outgoing National President, Mrs. Phillipa Larsen, described the last four years as very challenging but was satisfied with how far her team had brought it especially with the acquisition of the Ghana-Sweden Medical Centre for the Association.
There were solidarity messages by the Gambia Teachers’ Union and the GTUC read by the Secretary-General, Dr. Anthony Yaw Baah who expressed the hope that life after 90 years should see GNAT become not only vibrant and relevant in pursuing the social, economic interest of its members.
The Minister for Education, Dr. Osei Yaw Adutwum, noted that the government is undertaking expansive reforms at the pre-tertiary educational level to make the sector responsive to the changing needs of the time.
President Akufo-Addo thanked teachers for their sacrifices that ensured that education went on successfully in the heat of Covid-19. He disclosed that as part of the reforms being undertaken in the educational sector, first degree will soon become the basic qualification for the employment of new teachers into the Public School System.
”The reforms are meant to produce creative and innovative human resources, to propel the national economic transformation”, President Akufo Addo noted.