NAGRAT to resume strike next month?

The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has threatened to resume its suspended industrial action next month, following a breakdown of the truce brokered between it and the Ghana Education Service (GES) last month.

The decision of NAGRAT to resume its action was due to a default in the implementation of the roadmap for the peaceful resolution of the impasse.

The President of NAGRAT, Mr Kwami Alorvi, who made the association's intention known in an interview, said, “nothing was working, nobody seems to be interested in the truce brokered last month.”

The association suspended its industrial action after 39 days of absence from the classroom, to allow the bodies working on the matter, time to address the issue within the time frame agreed upon.

On the payment of salaries of new graduate teachers recruited from September 2003,Mr Alorvi said letters purportedly distributed to the Regional Directors of Education on June 10,2005,did not reach any of the beneficiaries.

“It was even agreed at the meeting that inputs on the affected teachers compiled by the regional directors should reach the acting Director-General of the GES by the end of June 2005 but nothing has so far been done,” he said.

“I am even skeptical about the fulfillment of other issues, which are supposed to be attended to by the end of August, this year,” he said.

Mr Alorvi said the association would hold an emergency meeting next month to take a final decision on its next line of action.

The Director-General of the GES, Mr Michael Nsowah, on the other hand said the association had no basis for its intended action since the agreements reached at the meeting were being followed to the letter.

Mr Nsowah described the decision of Mr Alorvi as hasty and unfortunate.

He said, he personally handed over letters to the regional directors of Education at a meeting on June 10, and was awaiting a response from them at the end of this month.

“I have distributed the letters to the appropriate quarters. If there are bottlenecks I will be briefed at the end of this month,” he said.

On the invigilation fees, Mr Nsowah said the GES would have to burden parents with an additional ¢5 billion if the teachers agreed to take ¢70,000.

He said a stakeholders meeting would be held by August to discuss the issue of invigilation fees for the examinations in the ensuing years.

He said letters on the upgrading of graduate senior superintendents to the principal level had also been issued.