Govt, GNAT clear 42,347 teachers to be paid arrears

The government, in collaboration with the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), has completed 90 per cent of the validation exercise for teachers.

Out of the 117,232 documents received, 63,614 have been worked on and 42,347 have been successfully validated, with 41,550 already paid their salaries.

Another set of 21,267 documents are, however, facing query.

GNAT president

The acting National President of GNAT, Ms Phillippa Larsen, made these known when she addressed the fifth quadrennial delegates’ conference of the North and Central Tongu branches of GNAT at Mafi Adidome in the Volta Region last Wednesday.

She said the validation exercise was still going on as the government had also promised to pay all outstanding salaries due teachers with immediate effect.

Ms Larsen also stated that the government had paid the custodian of the tier-two pension scheme for teachers from September 2016 to January 2017, adding that the government still had arrears of 80 months, spanning January 2010 to August 2016, to be paid to the scheme.

She assured teachers that the outstanding amount was in Temporary Pension Fund Account (TPFA) at the Bank of Ghana, adding that GNAT officials would soon go round the country to register members onto the scheme.

Theme

Speaking on the theme for the conference, “Transforming Society through Education: The Role of Stakeholders in Central and North Tongu Towards Agenda 2030,” Ms Larsen said there was the need for adaptation to conform to the dynamics of the fast-changing world, adding that teachers were the pivot around which transformation and development revolved.

“For me, I think providing quality education for all should have been the first goal under the sustainable development goals (SDGs) since none of the goals can be achieved without quality education. Without the teacher, nothing can be achieved,” she stressed.

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Tongu, Mr Alex Gabby Hottordze, urged teachers to work hard to restore the enviable respect and honour accorded them previously in society.

He said teachers should feel proud of themselves and the profession and appealed to those in “galamsey” areas to be dispassionate enough to contain the plight of pupils who might be affected by the menace.

Resolutions

The Volta Regional Chairman of GNAT, Mr Godwin Sadzi, expressed regret that work ethics were dying in the country and advised teachers against falling into the syndrome by adopting good time management and also delivering on their schedules diligently in order to attract the respect of the society.