Nungua, Sept. 11, GNA - Mr Paul Osei-Mensah, former General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has said government alone should not be allowed to determine policies in the educational sector.

Specifically, he mentioned, policies on the curricula and duration of courses and said the Ghana Education Service Council, National Council for Tertiary Education, Council for Technical and Vocational Education, and various Councils for Universities and Polytechnics should all be brought on board.

Speaking on Thursday at the Third Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the Greater-Accra Regional branch of GNAT, he said, such educational bodies should be given the responsibility to determine the curricula and duration of courses for schools. The conference was under the theme: "The Role of Teachers in the New Educational Reform.

"The problem we have in this country is that we do not allow national institutions to perform their statutory duties". He said teachers should not be seen as mere implementers, but should be active players in formulating reforms in the educational sector.

Mr Osei-Mensah said teachers must constantly give feedback of the educational reforms to allow policy formulators ascertain the success or otherwise of their decisions. Nii Armah Ashietey, Greater-Accra Regional Minister, who opened the Conference, expressed government's gratitude to teachers for their hard work and dedication to the nation. He called on teachers not to only concentrate on teaching the syllabus, but to also endeavour to be good role models to the students. Nii Ashietey urged teachers to address the high incidence of failure in examinations.

The Regional Minister gave the assurance that government would collaborate with the District Assemblies to expand and improve the conditions of school infrastructure. He added that government would improve the conditions of service of teachers through the provision of good accommodation, better retirement packages among other benefits.

Nii Ashietey announced that 3,000 teachers had been given study leave with pay for the 2009/2010 academic year and urged GNAT to use dialogue in solving grievances instead of resorting to sit down strikes and demonstrations. Fraternal messages from the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Tertiary Education Workers Union (TEWU) and the Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) were delivered at the Conference. 11 Sept. 09

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