Wa, Feb. 24, GNA - A committee is soon to go round to evaluate teachers' work to prepare the ground for paying them appropriate allowances in response to their agitation for extra duty allowance, Miss Portia Molley Anafo, National Vice-President of the Ghana National Association of Teachers announced at Wa on Friday.

She has therefore advised all teachers to hold themselves in readiness for the visit of the committee to their respective schools and offices and advised them to cooperate with it to enable its members to conduct the exercise smoothly.

Miss Anafo said this at the closing session of a four-day capacity building workshop at Wa for selected leaders of the ladies wing of the Association (GNAT- LAS) drawn from the Upper East and Upper West Region. The workshop is one of the ingredients of a five-year development plan of the Association designed to promote its growth and development. The plan, which began this year, would end in 2011. As part of the plan, she said, GNAT would from this year award any Journalist who would come out as the best in writing good stories on education annually.

She appealed to teachers to appreciate the new scheme of service approved by government, although it was below expectation. Its transition would generate some income for them; she said and reminded them that government had decided to remove all distortions in the Ghana Universal Salary Structure this year. She called on NAGRAT to collaborate with GNAT to fight for better conditions of service for teachers. Miss Helena Awurasa, National Gender Coordinator of GNAT told the participants to play lead role in reforming all cultural practices that hindered the development of women and children in their various communities.

Mr Sylvester Nabengyey, Upper West Regional Secretary of GNAT urged the participants to share the knowledge and skills that they acquired at the workshop with their colleagues and always endeavour to give correct information about the Association to them. In a communiqu=E9, the participants called on all teachers' organizations like GNAT, NAGRAT, POTAG and UTAG to eliminate all fragmentation within the teacher's front and unite because their strength laid in unity.

Because HIV/AIDS had become a huge social problem, the teachers suggested the establishment of counselling centres in all regions and districts to make it relatively easy for victims to have access to their services. They called on GNAT to table for negotiations in its "Gender Policy", the increase in the duration of maternity leave from three to six months and cr=E8ches established for all nursing mothers. 24 Feb. 07