New requirements for the different GNAT loans
The teachers’ fund has modified requirements for their loans. The modification has become necessary due to emerging new realities. One main reason is that members take loans then exit the mutual fund. And later return to access more loans, only to exit again. The fund therefore decided to introduce new requirements for the different GNAT loans to contain the situation.
Also, members take huge loans before leaving the teaching profession altogether. A classical example is members who travel abroad for good. They take huge loans to finance their journey. Some such members take loans, even when they don’t need them, to become bad debt for the fund.
The fund
The Teachers Fund is a retirement supplement scheme for members of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT). The fund was established by a trust deed in May 1998.
The fund is currently worth over three trillion Ghana cedis. Over 3 trillion is given to members alone as loans. Billions are invested in other investment portfolios.
New requirements to qualify for loans
There are three main qualifications necessary to access the required amount of loans. These three main requirements are:
1. Membership status
2. Minimum months of contribution
3. Minimum amount contributed
4. Documentation needed
5. Guarantors
1. Membership status
Firstly, a teacher must be a member of GNAT’s Teachers Fund. A teacher may be a member of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), but he or she may not be a member of the Teachers Fund.
It is voluntary to join GNAT. And after joining GNAT, it is also voluntary to opt in for their Teachers Fund.
A GNAT member who is not a contributor to the teachers fund can not dream of accessing a loan from the fund.
However, GNAT as an association has deployed unconventional tactics to enroll GNAT members into the fund without their consent.
The minimum monthly contribution for teachers fund members is 120gh. Therefore, anyone who joins GNAT as a teachers’ union should be ready to deducted 120gh as teachers fund contribution against his or her will.
2. Minimum months of contribution
First-time members of the teachers fund need to contribute continuously for only six (6) months to qualify for a loan from the fund.
However, any existing member who exited the fund in the past before rejoining would need to contribute continuously for a minimum of one (1) year before he or she can be considered for a loan.
The one-year requirement for reentry members is to discourage frequent exits and to serve as punishment for such people.
3. Minimum amount contributed
First-time members of the teachers fund must have contributed a minimum of fifteen percent (15%) of the loan amount they need.
However, anyone who has exited the fund in the past before rejoining again would need a minimum contribution of twenty percent (20%) of the amount they want.
The requirement for first-time members is to ensure the loans are properly backed by cash assets.
And the 20% requirement for reentry members is to discourage the thought of exits and to serve as punishment for those who actually exited in the past.
4. Documents needed
Members do not need any extra documents to access personal loans from the teachers’ fund.
However, members who need investment loans need a business certificate. Members who do not have any registration document can equally provide invoices to facilitate the loans.
Members who also need a habitat loan must provide valid land documents like indenture and associated site plans.
Finally, members who need a loan to purchase a vehicle must provide vehicle documents or the invoice for the vehicle.
5. Guarantors
There is no need for loan guarantors if the loan amount is less than 10,000gh. However, any member who needs loan amounts more than 10,000gh must provide two guarantors to be able to access the loan.
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