“GNAT and NAGRAT Are the Only Legitimate Professional Teachers’ Associations in Ghana”

Ghanaian Headmasters/Headmistresses Attending ICP 2011 in Toronto Confirm!

By Joe Kingsley Eyiah, Toronto-Canada

The teachers’ front in Ghana of late has seen ‘political’ upheaval with the activities of the so-called Coalition of Concerned Teachers. Any true educationist or a serious stakeholder in our motherland’s formal education system must be concerned over such development in Ghana. The nation’s education system over the years has suffered at the hands of the country governments’ (both past and present) political ideologies to the detriment of students in particular and our national development as a whole. Teachers who are the facilitators of the learning process in our schools should not add to the woes of the system with their internal ‘politics’!

From time immemorial, teaching has been a noble profession. From the days of Socrates to the time of Paul of the Bible students/graduates had spoken highly of their teachers (also called masters in some instances). The Holy Bible mentions teaching as one of the three top spiritual gifts from God that we must desire most for the growth of His church (read 1 Corth. 12:28). Interesting! Teachers make the medical doctors, the lawyers, the accountants, the engineers, the agriculturalists, the musicians, the pastors, the politicians, the nurses, the computer analysts and many other workers who contribute effectively to the building of a nation anywhere. This noble profession which propels education should not be seen fighting against itself. It was with this concern that the writer now domiciled in Canada seized the opportunity of the10th International Confederation of Principals (ICP) 2011 World Convention in Toronto to find out from the delegation of Headmasters and Headmistress attending from Ghana the up-to-date situation of the teachers’ front in Ghana.

The delegation from the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) led by its president Mr. Samuel Ofori-Adjei of Accra Academy High School who attended the 10th International Confederation of Principals (ICP) 2011 World Convention in Toronto last month (August) made it clear in an interview with the writer that the ‘Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) are the only recognized national bodies of professional teachers in Ghana.’

Speaking to the writer, who happens to be a trained teacher from Ghana, two members of the delegation expressed their misgivings about the motives of those championing the cause of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers. These misgivings were based on traces of political and selfish moves by the so-called Coalition of Concerned Teachers to make the government of the day unpopular among Ghanaians. They regretted the division in the teachers’ front in Ghana and stressed the fact that GNAT and NAGRAT are the only true and accepted representative bodies (mouth-pieces) of professional teachers in our motherland. However, recent news carried on Adom FM in Ghana spoke of the leader of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers saying it is embarking on a signature campaign to press home its calls on leaders of the teacher unions, GNAT and NAGRAT to resign and that so far the coalition has gathered 10,000 signatures from concerned teachers.

It is believed that the Coalition of Concerned Teachers is angry with the leadership of the GNAT and the NAGRAT, for failing to represent the interest of teachers. The Coalition describes the leadership of the two bodies as being ‘incompetent!’

The history of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers could be traced to the Ashanti Region, where the group was formed in the wake of agitations by teachers over discrepancies in their salaries. The group rejected a 15 percent allowance offered striking teachers by the government which had been accepted by the executives of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT).

I personally know GNAT as a powerful organization of teachers which enjoyed excellent leadership under professional previous administrators like Mr. T. A. Bediako who later became the leader of the All African Teachers Federation. Officers of GNAT were sent abroad, including Canada for professional training. The negotiating abilities of GNAT then could be described as good and many teachers looked up to the body for professional solutions to problems associated with their work! Has GNAT now become a political tool for the government of the day?

Perhaps, the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) was formed out of dissatisfaction with GNAT dealings on issues concerning graduate teachers in Ghana. Cracks in the minds of the leaderships of the two professional teachers’ bodies in the country have come to the fore in the recent struggles of teachers in Ghana for better conditions. For example, reports have it that, “plans of the group (coalition of concern teachers) to merge NAGRAT and the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) into one Union was impossible because the Constitution of NAGRAT did not support that. “NAGRAT belongs to NAGRAT members and under no circumstance should NAGRAT members sit down for any GNAT member to determine the modus operandi of NAGRAT”, the statement said.

I have said before that though GNAT and NAGRAT have different constitutions that strengthen their positions to negotiate effectively for their members independent of the other body. The two recognized teachers’ professional bodies in Ghana can learn from the cooperation that the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF/FEESO) in Canada enjoy from each other in their efforts to improve conditions for their members.