Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia Friday launched the "One Teacher, One Laptop" initiative to facilitate lesson planning, teaching and learning outcomes.

Ghana would not be left behind in the fourth industrial revolution era and would leverage on ICT tools to accelerate socio-economic development, he stated at the ceremony in Accra.

 

Every teacher in the public school from the kindergarten to the senior high level would receive a computer laptop each.

Government would pay 70 percent of the cost of the laptop, while each teacher pays the remaining 30 percent.

Vice President Bawumia performed the launch of the "One Teacher, One Laptop" programme at the Saint Mary's Senior High School, in Accra.

He symbolically presented four laptops to four teachers of the Saint Mary's Senior High School to begin the distribution of the laptops.

A total of 71 teachers at the School received a laptop each.

KA Technologies Ghana Limited, a locally-based ICT firm, is the manufacturer of the computer laptops.

The TM1 computer laptops have store of e-books and users could access other relevant teaching materials electronically.

The launch attracted key stakeholders in the education sector, including teacher unions, directors of education, managers of educational institutions, teachers and students.

Vice President Bawumia said the initiative was at the heart of the President to improve teaching and learning performances towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goal Four.

He said teachers were indispensable to building the human capacity of the nation and government was committed to providing the requisite ICT tools and infrastructure to achieve education transformation and socio-economic development.

He noted that the Fourth Industrial Revolution was highly dependent on ICT skills and knowledge, therefore, the government would equip teachers to access teaching and learning resources to improve performance.

 

Dr Bawumia said the 21st Century required the blend of face-to-face and virtual teaching, especially with the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic, and that government would support those efforts by providing the necessary tools and infrastructure to achieve that vision.

GNA

Additionally, he said, the Government had provided free wifi to 722 senior high schools to ease access to learning materials online.

The Vice President said Ghanaian students abound with IT talents as two senior high schools - Prempeh College and Mamfe Methodist Senior High School - won Robotics and Coding World Championships recently.

Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Education Minister, in brief remarks, said the launch was in fulfilment of the government's promise to equip teachers with ICT tools to enhance performance and socio-economic development.

The Minister thanked the Ghana Education Service and teacher unions for collaborating with the government in making the programme a reality.

Madam Omolara Olakunmi, the General Manager of KA Technologies Ghana Limited, for his part, said education and technology were two key ingredients that held the future of the nation.

This was because education was a beacon of light whilst technology was an enabler that expanded the frontiers of knowledge to achieving greater heights.

She lauded the digitisation agenda of the government to making teaching and learning easier and improving the lives of Ghanaians.

Ms Phillipa Larsen, President of Ghana National Association of Teachers, on behalf of the teacher unions, thanked the government for fulfilling its promise to teachers, saying that the laptops would improve methods of imparting knowledge and lesson planning.

"It's a dream come true and would enhance performance in the classroom," she added.

Ms Larsen asked the beneficiaries to ensure proper maintenance culture to prolong the longevity of the laptops.

GHANA NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS (GNAT)                  

6^TH QUADRENNIAL (53^RD) NATIONAL DELEGATES CONFERENCE

The National Council of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) announces for the information of its members, stakeholders and the general public, the organisation

of its 6^th Quadrennial (53^rd) National Delegates Conference at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), from 2^nd – 9^th January, 2022.

Theme:

“GNAT @90; SURVIVING AS A RELIABLE AND VIBRANT TEACHER UNION IN THE 21^ST CENTURY”

 Highlights of the Conference Agenda include:

1. Formal Opening: E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo

                                     (President of the Republic of Ghana)

2. Keynote Address:   Prof. Emmanuel Adow Obeng

                             (President, Presbyterian University College Abetifi)  

1. Election of National Officers of GNAT:

Pursuant to Article 23(1)(c) of the Constitution and Rules of GNAT as amended in 2018, the underlisted positions (which would fall vacant by the tail end of the conference) are hereby advertised.

• National President
• National Vice President
• National Treasurer
• 1^st National Trustee
• 2^nd National Trustee

2. Investiture of National Officers.

3. Filing of nominations starts from 1^ST SEPTEMBER, 2021 AND CLOSES ON 30^TH SEPTEMBER, 2021.

Interested GNAT members may pick the nomination forms from the GNAT Headquarters or Regional and District GNAT Secretariats, or download

them from the GNAT Website or the GNAT Social Media Platforms.

 Five (5) Copies of duly filled Nomination forms shall be submitted by the  candidate at Room 15, GNAT Headquarters - Accra ONLY and in PERSON.

THOMAS TANKO MUSAH

(GENERAL SECRETARY)

ABENA GYAMERA

(NATIONAL GNATEC CHAIRPERSON)

Dated: 30^th August, 2021

Click on the link below to download nomination form

https://ghanateachers.com/news-media/downloads/category/1-gnat-statements

By: Emmanuel Bonney

Three teacher unions have called for a smooth conduct of this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates devoid of malpractices.

According to them, stakeholders including invigilators, supervisors, candidates, parents, teachers and officials of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) should all collaborate to ensure the sanctity, credibility and integrity of the examination  which begins with Oral English throughout the country tomorrow, September 1, 2021.

The General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Mr Thomas Musah, the President of the National Association of Graduates Teachers (NAGRAT), Mr Eric Carbonu and the Presdent of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers-Ghana (CCT-Gh), King Awudu Ali, made the call in separate interviews with the Daily Graphic on Monday.

Candidates

A total of 446,321 final-year SHS students are writing the 2021 WASSCE for school candidates across the country. They are made up of 221,437 males and 224,884 females from 965 public and private second cycle institutions.

The 2021 WASSCE statistics available to the Daily Graphic indicate that the public schools are 651 while the private ones are 314.NThe examination, which began with the project work last Monday, will have the written papers taking off on September 1, 2021. A total of 763 supervisors will be at the 763 centres to invigilate the examination.

GNAT

Mr Musah congratulated the candidates and wished them a successful examination.

“We are aware that the going has been tough, arduous and tempestuous, yet as the saying goes — when the going gets tough, the tough keeps going. Again, no lasting glory is won without struggle. That Ghanaian students have withstood all odds and gone through the system shows the zeal and resilience in them, and we congratulate them for these sterling qualities,” he said.

He said the time had come for candidates to make themselves, their teachers, parents and all stakeholders proud and expressed the hope that they would live up to the task since they had to safeguard their future by excelling.

NAGRAT

Wishing the candidates well, Mr Carbonu, for his part, said it was the expectation of NAGRAT that this year’s WASSCE would be conducted in an atmosphere of peace devoid of examination malpractices.

“We also take the opportunity to encourage all our teachers administering the examinations to conduct themselves professionally.

“We also call on the officials of WAEC to ensure that security is adequately provided for both students and teachers during the examination,” he said.

CCT-Gh

Mr Ali, who also wished the candidates the best in the examination, expressed the hope that they would come out with flying colours.

“As a yearly ritual, we would caution that they desist from any form of examination malpractice that has the tendency of getting their papers cancelled. But the most important thing is about our teachers. It is the wish of every teacher to see his/her student pass,” he said.

By: graphic.com.gh

The General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Thomas Musah, says some Senior High Schools (SHSs)

in the country have been hit with food shortages.

He said the schools are mostly found in the Eastern, Ashanti, Northern, and Volta regions.

According to him, the situation, if not remedied, could affect the health of the students in the affected schools. Speaking on Accra-based Citi FM on Tuesday, August 31, 2021,
he said making the issue public was not intended to bring anybody down or to make the government unpopular. For him, making the issue public was to court the attention of all key
stakeholders, particularly duty bearers, including the President and the sector minister to help address the situation.

"We need to do something to help our children," Mr Musah noted, adding "We need to do something to ensure that these children pass and pass well."

He said how the students are fed is not the best, saying “the conditions under which our children are learning is not the best."
For him, the posture taken by some duty bearers that there is not food shortages affecting schools in the country will not help to address the situation, and that the issue needed to be addressed urgently.
"We cannot compromise on the health of our students," he said, pointing out that the leadership of GNAT is doing everything possible to ensure that the schools have enough food supplies.