Bolgatanga (Upper East), 16 March '99 -

Women members of the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) have been told that higher education is the key to their progress. They should, therefore, not be content with their immediate circumstances but "you should understand the environment, in which you operate and strive to improve your status". This was contained in a speech read for the national president of the Women's Wing of TEWU, Madam Winfred Amugi, at a regional delegate's conference on the theme "TEWU women's wing- making a difference in the next millennium" in Bolgatanga. She advised the delegates not to be content with their position as typists, secretaries or accounts clerks, but to improve on their professional skills through further education in order to rise to the top. Madam Amugi urged women to get actively involved in union affairs so that "we would be able to tell the government that privatisation is not the only answer to economic reforms. It should look for other alternatives". The president further urged members to organise themselves in solidarity with women in other unions to fight for their economic rights. The general secretary of TEWU, Mr Dan Antwi, said the conference is the first in a series of regional conferences to be held throughout the country.