THE NATIONAL Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has added its voice to the call on the Electoral Commission (EC) to come out with an acceptable voters register for the December election.
This, according to NAGRAT, would make the results of the elections acceptable to all the competing political parties.
The association made the call at its 7th national delegates conference at Koforidua on Tuesday.
The three-day event that was on the theme: “Sustaining Democracy, the Role of Teacher Unions”, brought together delegates from all over the country to deliberate on issues affecting the association.
Key among the issues were the implementation of a fair and equitable salary structure promised by the government, delayed implementation of the new pension scheme, unexplained deductions from the salaries of NAGRAT members, non-payment of salaries and arrears, as well as the conduct of the Best Teacher Award Scheme.
Mr Kwame Alorvi, President of the association, who made the call on behalf of the association, said the long queues at the registration centres and the large number of minors registering, coupled with the paucity of registration materials and equipment, were signs of threats to the country’s democracy.
To prevent any unfortunate situation, he said NAGRAT would continue to play its part by educating the youth both at school and at home so that they would not be manipulated by politicians.
Mr Alorvi also called on political actors and their activists to conform to the rules of the elections to make the event fair and violence-free for the sustenance of the country’s democracy.
With regard to the welfare of teachers, he said although the government had promised that a new salary scheme would be implemented after the teachers had gone on an industrial action in 2006, that had not been done and the union leaders who had persistently been informing their members on different periods had been branded as liars.
Mr Alorvi, cautioned the government that teachers’ tolerance had been over-stretched and that they would no longer accept any further delay in the implementation of the new salary structure beyond January, 2009.
He also called on the Ghana Education Service to conclude negotiations on responsibility allowances for all categories of teachers by August 31, this year.
The government, Mr Alorvi said, must also pay the teachers their October 2006 salaries, which were frozen when they embarked on an industrial action.
Mr Alorvi, who also dwelt extensively on various issues affecting teachers such as the conduct of the Best Teacher Awards, which he said had not been satisfactory, called on the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports to ensure that the scheme reflected the national character.
On the provision of private vehicles for members of NAGRAT, Mr Alorvi commended President Kufuor for his initiative, which he said had started yielding good results, adding that “some of the cars will be arriving in September from South Korea, The Netherlands, and the United States”.
He expressed the association’s appreciation to the Amalgamated Bank for granting it GH¢5,000,000 for the acquisition of the vehicles.
A lecturer of the Legon Centre for International Affairs (LECIA), Dr Vladimir Antwi-Danso, who also spoke at the function, traced the history of the political development of the country and stated that for the country to be truly democratic, its leaders must understand both local and international issues, have vision for the future and that there should be discipline in the system.
Dr Vladimir Antwi-Danso, commended the NPP Administration for ensuring a prudent economy by washing out the chunk of the country’s external debts and asked the teachers who he described as very knowledgeable to help educate the populace on all issues affecting the country.
Touching on agitations of teachers for better salaries, he said what they needed were long-term benefits such as housing schemes after working for so many years and that no amount of salary increases would better their lot.
The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Afram Asiedu, chaired the function.
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