The General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Thomas Tanko Musah, has called on the government to honour its promises to teacher unions.

Speaking on Joy FM's Midday News on Monday, August 19, Mr. Musah stressed that the government had promised affordable housing for teachers in 2022, yet two years later, the promise remains unfulfilled, yet the promise has been made anew.
According to him, the government needs to revisit this commitment and not make new ones.
"We’ve been here before and I think that we cannot easily progress without looking at what had happened in history. Two years back, we engaged the government and they promised us that they were going to ensure that we get affordable housing.
"When you look at the budget statement, page 105 and paragraph 589 it is there that government will engage the teacher unions specifically NAGRAT to ensure that affordable housing is put in place .. so this is a nice opportunity to give a reminder,” he said.
Mr. Musah also urged the government to expedite action on other promises, such as promoting teachers from the rank of Deputy Director to Director 2 and 1, addressing issues faced by teachers in deprived areas, and delivering on the "laptop per teacher" initiative.
His comments come in response to a recent pledge by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who during the unveiling of the party’s 2024 electioneering campaign manifesto, promised to offer incentives for teachers to purchase vehicles with engine capacities of up to 1,800CC.
While Mr. Musah acknowledged the importance of this initiative—noting that teachers had benefited from similar incentives in the past—he stressed the need for the government to fulfill previous promises before making new ones.
"...But as I said, the other ones they have promised and haven’t been delivered, we are asking of it and we want them to speak to those issues for us.”

Additionally, Mr. Musah called for the establishment of a pre-education funding act to ensure sustained financing for public education, pointing out that basic education in Ghana is currently facing significant challenges.

The leadership of the Pre-Tertiary Teacher Unions have called for calm among teachers who are apprehensive over their appointments being revoked.

Their anxiety stems from a circular issued by the Ghana Education Service (GES) to heads of schools to ensure that the appointments of teachers who were recruited after December 7 are terminated.

In an exclusive interview with 3news on February 19, General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Thomas Tanko Musah appealed to the anxious teachers to be calm.

We need to give the employer the benefit of hindsight. To the extent that we have an assurance of engagement for us to find out how we can resolve, together let us work to resolve all the issues. If there are other things, we are not able to resolve we meet our members and decide on the next line of action.

“So, to the extent that dialogue has not broken down and the employer has shown commitment that look, let us work together to resolve the problem” he noted.

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has cautioned that if urgent steps are not taken to curb the rising incidents of violent altercations among senior high school students, authorities may be compelled to establish military barracks within school premises.

This warning follows recent clashes between students, some of whom wielded deadly weapons such as cutlasses and locally manufactured pistols.

The incidents have reignited concerns about discipline and character development within the country’s educational institutions.

Speaking to Citi News, GNAT General Secretary, Thomas Tanko Musah expressed deep concern over the growing indiscipline among students, attributing it to a broader breakdown of respect at the national level.

He criticised the lack of accountability for students involved in violent and criminal activities, warning that their unchecked actions could further erode discipline in schools.

“If care is not taken in the coming days like I have said, we may have to establish military barracks on our campuses so that they will help to maintain law and order.

“That is where we are heading towards. We may need to employ more military men since the students are now coming with weapons, we might need to employ the military people so that we create military barracks on all the campuses so that when the students pull out their weapons, the soldiers will also pull their weapons, then they will square it up there.”

Source : Elizabeth Kabukie Ocansey

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has expressed readiness to effectively partake in the National  Education Forum, to highlight funding shortfalls within the  educational system of the country.

This comes after President John Dramani Mahama established an eight-member committee to oversee the organisation of the National Education reform, to publicly dialogue on ways to improve on the educational sector in the country.

In an interview on the Channel One Newsroom, General Secretary of GNAT, Thomas Tanko Musah raised concerns regarding debts owed the West African Examination Council (WAEC), the challenge of financing the School Feeding programme for basic schools across the country and the capitation grant which lies in arrears.

He further lamented the growing concern of student indiscipline witnessed recently in some Senior High Schools and called for reforms in the disciplinary system.

“The major problem facing us is funding. All the problems we are going to discuss, it is about where to get money, pay for them. And like I always say, capitation grant is in arrears for over two years. We are owing WAEC for over GH¢100 million. The school feeding, we are owing. How can we feed students GH¢1.30 a day?

“We will go there and bring to their attention that currently as a people, we have lost the effective aspect of training our children which has to do with character and conscience. And we will run into danger when we train children with knowledge and they don’t have character.

“We must revisit the issue where we have disabled the headmasters and everything, otherwise we will be in trouble in the coming years.”

Source :   Sarah Appiah

The General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Thomas Tanko Musah, has voiced concerns over inadequate compensation and insufficient rest periods for teachers working under the double-track school system.

Musah’s comments come in response to recent statements by the Minister of Education, Dr. Osei Yaw Adutwum, who cautioned against the immediate abolition of the double-track system, citing potential negative effects on students’ educational prospects.

Dr. Adutwum’s warning was directed at the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which has pledged to abolish the system if it wins the December 7 general elections.

In an interview with Citi News, Musah emphasized the critical need for sufficient rest for teachers, highlighting the strain the double-track system has placed on them.

He called on the government to develop a comprehensive compensation plan for teachers operating within this framework, underscoring the importance of supporting educators to ensure both their well-being and the quality of education provided.

“Giving the worker leave is good. It enables the worker to rest, refresh, prepare and come back. Even the labour law tells us that a worker cannot sell his leave. Leave now is compulsory. Even vehicles, there’s a time every month or a time you need to go for servicing. What about you human beings?

“And so the concern is that teachers who are in the double track schools are not resting and the compensation given to them is not coming.

“What we all need to look at is that if the double track cannot be resolved this year, then the schools that will be doing the double track should look at what package we will have for teachers because we cannot have a system where the teachers in those schools are working 24/7 without compensation. They must be compensated.”

September 16, 2024 1:37 pm

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has called on the government to immediately declare a state of emergency to address the devastating impact of illegal mining popularly known as galamsey.

Additionally, GNAT is demanding the evacuation of all mining equipment from forest reserves and water bodies.

GNAT Secretary, Thomas Musah made these demands on Accra-based Channel One TV while outlining five urgent actions the government must put in place.

Mr Musah called for the revocation of law 2462 and the withdrawal of all mining and prospecting licenses in forests, protected reserves, and water bodies.

“Deploy Police and Military to remove and destroy all mining and earth-moving equipment in river bodies and forest reserves.

“Establish a special court to prosecute those involved in illegal mining (galamsey),” he stated.

Meanwhile, highlighting the dire situation facing Ghana, Mr Musah expressed down the five-member inter-ministerial committee set up by President Akufo-Addo will help finding lasting solutions to the menace.