We're owing WAEC over GHS100 million – GNAT

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has raised serious concerns about the ongoing funding crisis in the country’s educational system.

In an interview on Channel One Newsroom, the association revealed that critical payments are in arrears, putting immense pressure on schools across the nation.

“The major problem facing us is funding,” a GNAT representative said. “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?”

The capitation grant, which helps support schools’ operational costs, has not been paid for over two years, leaving schools struggling to manage their finances.

GNAT also pointed out that WAEC, which handles national exams, is owed over GH¢100 million, raising concerns about potential disruptions in the examination process.

Additionally, the School Feeding Program is underfunded, with just GH¢1.30 allocated per student per day, which GNAT argues is insufficient to meet the needs of students.

GNAT also warned that the current education system is failing to properly develop students’ character and conscience, focusing too much on academic knowledge alone.

“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,” the representative stated.

The association also emphasized the need to empower school heads, who they believe have been restricted in their ability to manage their schools effectively.

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