GNAT, Canadian Teachers Federation support female teachers
The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) in partnership with the Canadian Teachers Federation (CTF) is motivating female teachers to assume leadership roles in deprived and inaccessible communities in the country.
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This is being done by supporting the female teachers with bursaries to upgrade themselves; after their studies the beneficiaries will go back to their communities from where they came from, to take their places side by side with their male colleagues and continue with their work to promote quality education.
To qualify, the female teacher must have served and taught for a period of three years in a deprived community.
Beneficiaries
Since the inception of the package in the 2014/15 academic year, 54 teachers have benefitted from the package dubbed, “GNAT-CTF Gender Bursaries”.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic during a presentation ceremony in Wa in the Upper West Region last Tuesday, the GNAT National Gender Coordinator, Madam Helena Awurusa, said this year, 30 more teachers were benefitting from the package with eight of them from the Upper West Region alone.
The beneficiaries from the region are Domitola Mohammed, Hellen Asuma, Ivy Yarpoe, Beatrice Suuritasige, Leticia Naa, Esther Baminekang, Pauline Kuuzume and Regina Kpemaah.
Madam Awurusa said they would be supported with an amount of GH¢1,220 each to attend a tertiary institution of their choice. They will have the opportunity to study: Social Studies, Literature in English, Ghanaian Language, English Language and Gender Studies.
She explained that that was their modest effort to help the teachers to become role models in such areas, in support of efforts to encourage the girl-child to go to school, adding, “They will learn up-to-date methods of teaching and will return to introduce a new method to the teaching of subjects in their school.”
Financial constraints
She noted that due to financial constraints, they could only support the 30 beneficiaries out of more than 500 applicants throughout the country.
She therefore appealed to other stakeholders in education to support them to assist more of such female teachers.
Madam Awurusa expressed her profound gratitude to the Pan-African Teachers Centre - African Region - for offering GH¢2,000 to support the programme.
On behalf of the beneficiaries, Madam Hellen Asuma expressed gratitude to the donors for their support and was optimistic that they would learn fast and contribute their quota towards the development of the country.
“We will return with the spirit to work hard and make a lasting contribution to advance the frontiers of knowledge in society,” she added.
