GNAT provided the items not government
The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has read with disappointment a misrepresentation of facts by two reporters who covered the 21st edition of the World Teachers’ Day and the 1st National Best School Awards Ceremony held at the Jubilee Park in Tamale on October 5, 2015.
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In their report on the event in the October 6, 2015 issue of the Daily Graphic the reporters said that the school uniforms, canvas, boots and other items, which were provided freely by the GNAT to selected needy pupils in the Northern Region, were provided by the government under its Free School Uniform and Sandals Programme.
This comes as a surprise to the GNAT in the sense that we believe the reporters were at the Jubilee Park when some GNAT officials marched the 50 school pupils to the durbar grounds in their old school attire and shortly afterwards, returned in their new school uniforms with their neat canvas shoes to match and their school bags strapped on their backs, stocked with reading and exercise books, pens, pencils and erasers.
The Acting President of GNAT, Mr Alexander Mawusi Buadi, who read the statement on behalf of the unions in education, clearly stated in his speech that the items were provided by GNAT for the pupils to practically demonstrate the members’ commitment to the promotion of teaching and learning in this country.
He then appealed to His Excellency, the Vice President to present a bag to a school pupil on behalf of GNAT which he graciously accepted.
It would interest the two reporters to know that those presentations by GNAT were not new to the Vice President. He had done it before. Every year, GNAT does that presentation to some needy pupils in the host region of the celebration of the World Teachers’ Day.
GNAT is inclined to believe that since the two Daily Graphic reporters were at the Jubilee Park and heard the GNAT president deliver his speech after which copies were distributed to both the print and electronic media reporters present, the action they took could be a deliberate act to distort facts.
What will motivate a reporter to twist facts the way the two reporters did?
The Daily Graphic is a credible national newspaper with international reputation and thus the reporters should be very circumspect in their reporting.
