Don’t pre-finance any school activity. GNAT orders members

Don’t pre-finance any school activity. GNAT orders members over interdiction of WASS headmistress

Do not pre-finance any school activity: The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has warned its members not to pre-finance any school activity from their own resources. The order came after the Ghana Education Service interdicted the headmistress of West Africa Secondary School.

GNAT released a statement to confront the Ghana Education Service for interdicting Dr. (Mrs) Shine Agatha Ofori for collecting money to recoup her personal resources that was spent on safeguarding the smooth running of the school.

See also: GNAT Executives Meet Regional Councils Over Delayed Loans

Below is the statement that GNAT released to warn members to refrain from attempts to pre-finance any school activity.

PRESS RELEASE

INTERDICTION OF WASS HEADMISTRESS

The attention of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, GNAT, has been drawn to this document circulating on social media, dated 19th July, 2023, and signed by Cassandra Twum Ampofo, Head, Public Relations Unit of the Ghana Education Service, GES, reading:

Management of GES has interdicted Dr (Mrs) Shine Agatha Ofori, Headmistress of West Africa SHS, for unauthorised collection of money from students.

That, consequently,

She is to handover the administration of the school to the Regional Director of Education, pending final determination of the case by the Regional Disciplinary Committee.

The GNAT, hereby reacts to the document as follows:

Once again, the Ghana Education Service, GES, has gone into the overdrive, and is at its usual sinister best, seeking to cover its own shortcomings of not addressing the numerous challenges facing the smooth running of the public basic and secondary schools. This behaviour is bringing the personalities of school heads and teachers, and their skills and competencies into question, disrepute, and opprobrium. The GES must put its own house in order internally, before going to town every now and then with school heads who have become pawns in its blame game.

Indeed, we are amazed, that the vogue now is the GES interdicting public school heads of unauthorised collection of money from students, which in many instances, turn out to be false and subjecting them to psychological trauma, moral turpitude and impugning their reputation. Few months ago, it was Tema Senior High School; days later it was Aburi Girls and Achimota, and hours later Tamale Senior High and Fijai, and now WASS.

The Ghana National Association of Teachers, GNAT, would like to find out from the GES:

i. Whether pre-financing the running of schools by the Heads in terms of capitation grant, administrative cost and meeting other overhead cost from their own resources to be recouped later constitute an infraction?

ii. Should Heads allow their students to go hungry as in the case of Binduri SHS which resulted in riot leading to the temporary closure of the school as carried by the Friday, 21″ July, 2023, Editorial of the Daily Graphic? iii. Whether the PTA and Old Boys Girls Associations can appropriately support the schools using their own resources both in cash and kind? Why should school heads who are very responsible people, and taught many of the policy makers be made to keep quiet over the ineptitude of the said policy makers? iv. v. As citizens, why can’t they complain or cry out, when things are not going on well in their schools?

The other day, the Head of Fijai school was at the receiving end, only for the PTA to come out to absolve her/him of any wrongdoing or malfeasance; but then the harm had already been done. How would she/he hold herself/himself in society and before her/his students, family, church, mosque, and the larger society henceforth? And now Dr (Mrs) Shine Agatha Ofori? Would these persons be restituted in the end, if found to have committed no wrong? We await an answer from the GES and all who matter.

Do not pre-finance any school activity

At this juncture, we wish to advise all school heads, teachers, and our members, not to pre- finance the running of the schools from their own resources, going forward, since doing so would be misinterpreted, and awarded with shame, suspension, and interdiction, as has happened to Dr (Mrs) Shine Agatha Ofori and her colleagues.

And to the Ghana Education Service, GES, we wish to state categorically that, Enough is Enough! We are fed up, and the earlier GES stopped embarrassing school heads, teachers, and all other staff in the sector, the better it would be for all of us. The GES must acknowledge its own “blackness” before calling school heads, teachers, and the ancillary staff “black”.

To Dr (Mrs) Shine Agatha Ofori and all who have suffered similar fate, we say “we are with you in spirit and solidarity”.

School Heads and Teachers’ reputation matter; stop embarrassing and harassing them forthwith, GES!

THOMAS T. MUSAH GENERAL SECRETARY

DATED: 21ST JULY, 2023

Find the second half of the press statement #Do not pre-finance any school activity

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