Members of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) have called on the government to relieve Prof. Stephen Adei, former rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, (GIMPA), of the position of Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) “since his pronouncements and tantrums offends the sensibilities of hard-working Ghanaian teachers.”

Prof Adei, on Thursday, 24 January 2019, told Benjamin Akakpo on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class91.3FM that Ghanaian teachers in public basic schools are “pure criminals” because "they do not teach” yet take their salaries and send their children to private schools.

In his view, that attitude of the teachers was affecting the quality of education at the primary level.

Responding to Prof Adei, NAGRAT in a statement said: “under normal circumstances, the Association would have treated the statement of Prof. Stephen Adei with disdain and the contempt it deserves knowing the track record of his hatred and senile attacks on the Ghanaian Teachers in the past, but for the fact that he has just been appointed as the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) which makes him a government appointee and for that matter a state official who should make public statements taking the sensitivities of people into considerations.”

NAGRAT added that “Prof. Adei’s current state is not adequately equipped to appreciate the enormity of the challenges confronting Ghana’s education and for that matter teaching and learning.”

Below is the full NAGRAT statement:

The attention of the leadership of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has been drawn to a statement made by Prof. Stephen Adei calling “Basic School Teachers as pure criminals”.

The fault of the Ghanaian Teacher per the thinking of Professor Stephen Adei is that they take the salaries and send their children to private schools. Under normal circumstances, the Association would have treated the statement of Prof. Stephen Adei with disdain and the contempt it deserves knowing the track record of his hatred and senile attacks on the Ghanaian Teachers in the past, but for the fact that he has just been appointed as the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) which makes him a government appointee and for that matter a state official who should make public statements taking the sensitivities of people into considerations.

One major point of worry to us is that, Prof. Stephen Adei was invited to the said programme to give a talk on the problems confronting the Double track system he advocated government to implement. Instead of confronting the challenges of the Double Track programme, he rather decided to deviate to attack hard-working Ghanaian Teachers.

A little education will help Prof. Stephen Adei to appreciate the fact that Teachers serve this country in every city, town, village and hamlet, sometimes under very strenuous conditions. These teachers have to deal with the situation of lack of good drinking water, electricity, no communication, very dilapidated school environment and hostile communities. In spite of these, the versatility of the teacher has helped salvage an otherwise bad situation.

This is not the first time Prof. Stephen Adei has taken an undeserved swipe at the Ghanaian Teacher. He once called on the government to sack all Teachers. He also referred to teachers as demonic. NAGRAT cannot establish what actually is pursuing Prof. Stephen Adei, be they spiritual or psychological but one thing we can establish for sure is that Prof. Adei’s current state is not adequately equipped to appreciate the enormity of the challenges confronting Ghana’s Education and for that matter teaching and learning.

As a matter of fact, he is one of the chief advocates of the double track system at the Senior High Schools in Ghana but does not find it prudent to replicate same for his own school, the Christian High School near Dodowa.

We call on all Ghanaian teachers to disregard the tantrums of Prof. Adei and treat his comments and attacks with the contempt it deserves. NAGRAT hereby call on the government to relieve Prof. Stephen Adei of the position of Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) since his pronouncements and tantrums offend the sensibilities of hard-working Ghanaian Teachers. His behaviour does not seem to have what it takes to harness our human energies towards national development.

ERIC CARBONU

(PRESIDENT OF NAGRAT)