110 GNAT Local Officers Attend Leadership Training

By Peter Gbambila

One hundred and ten local officers of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) from the 22 districts of the Western Region on Monday attended leadership training here at Fijai on Monday.

The Western Regional Secretary of GNAT, Mr Nicholas Taylor, advised teachers in public schools to put up their best to win the confidence of parents that the public schools could perform better than private schools

He said if teachers in public schools showed lackadaisical attitude towards their work in the schools, this might lead to the total collapse of public schools because no parent would like to send their ward to a non-performing public school.

Mr Taylor observed that the abysmal performances of some public schools had compelled some parents to lose total confidence in them and that had forced them to send their children to the private schools adding, "some of the teachers in the private schools are your direct college and university mates, why then the vast difference in teaching".

"I therefore advise you to take the lessons with your pupils serious because the aftermath will be bad for some of us due to our own attitude to work," he told the teachers.

He said incentives for teachers, circuit supervisors, head teachers and directors were woefully inadequate and policy makers needed to consider the education of the nation as the main tool to the total development of the country.

Touching on canning in schools, Mr Taylor said that there should not be a total ban but must be done in moderation pointing out that "if some teachers have sometimes misused the cane does not mean canning should be totally banned because it was a means to correct the child and if it became necessary the head teacher could supervise it in moderation".

He said it was not in the interest of any teacher to cane a child but it was meant to discipline the children.

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