Advertisement

Mr Raphael Kwashie (3rd right), Principal of the St Francis College of Education, Hohoe in the Volta Region, receiving a cheque for GH¢22,000 from Ms Phillipa Larsen (2nd-left), the President of GNAT. With them are Mr Thomas T. Musah (left), General Secretary of GNAT, and representatives of the beneficiary institutions
Mr Raphael Kwashie (3rd right), Principal of the St Francis College of Education, Hohoe in the Volta Region, receiving a cheque for GH¢22,000 from Ms Phillipa Larsen (2nd-left), the President of GNAT. With them are Mr Thomas T. Musah (left), General Secretary of GNAT, and representatives of the beneficiary institutions

Deficit in science equipment: GNAT supports colleges of education

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has supported seven science-bias colleges of education with GH¢154,000 for the procurement of equipment for the training of teachers.

Each of the seven colleges received GH¢22,000.

The beneficiary institutions are the St John Bosco’s College of Education in Navrongo in the Upper East Region; the Presbyterian College of Education, Kibi, Eastern Region; the Bagabaga College of Education, Northern Region; the Wesley College of Education, Kumasi; the St Francis College of Education, Hohoe, Volta Region; the Nusrat Jahan Ahmadiyya College of Education, Wa, Upper West Region, and the OLA College of Education, Central Region.

Framework

Speaking at the presentation ceremony yesterday, the General Secretary of GNAT, Mr Thomas Tanko Musah, said the association was making the presentation mindful of its mandate of striving for improvement in the conditions of service of its members, as well as seeing to additionals, such as the payment of professional allowances to them and their general welfare.

He mentioned some of the welfare interventions as the institution of affordable housing schemes for teachers to enable them to own houses, the provision of affordable means of transport for GNAT members to facilitate their movement, as well as their upgrade, promotion, payment of transfer grants, maintenance allowance and responsibility allowance.

“Thus it is within the framework of friendship, commitment to the cause of education in the colleges of education in Ghana’s schools in general and the demonstration of we feeling that GNAT is coming to the aid of the seven institutions,” Mr Musah explained.

That, he said, was to enable the colleges to take care of such deficit as infrastructure/science equipment, laboratories and other needs as and when they arose.

“We hope the money will be used for its intended purpose,” he emphasised, adding that the gesture was to augment and complement whatever assistance those institutions had received and continue to receive from the government and other stakeholders in the country’s educational enterprise,” he added.

Section Four of the Colleges of Education Act, 2012, he said, required the institutions to, among other things, set up well-equipped resource centres where staff, students and serving teachers would be assisted to acquire skills in making and using teaching and learning materials for effective classroom teaching.

“It is also worthy to note that Article 3 (1g) of the 2018 amended GNAT Constitution enjoins the association to assist the colleges of education,” he said.

Equipment

For her part, the President of GNAT, Ms Phillipa Larsen, said the association already had plans to see how best it could support the colleges of education, as that had been part of its corporate social responsibility.

“We know that you trained us, and for that matter you train our members for us. Without the necessary requirements, equipment and gadgets, you will not be able to offer the best training you would want to,” she said.

On behalf of the seven institutions, the Principal of the St Francis College of Education, Mr Raphael Kwashie, expressed appreciation to GNAT for what he described as a “wonderful gesture”.

According to Mr Kwashie, the support was coming at the right time, as some colleges struggled to get the requisite equipment for the training of students.

“I must say that I am overwhelmed by this presentation and we say a very big thank you to GNAT for the gesture,” he said.

He pledged the commitment of the colleges to make maximum use of the donation for the purchase of equipment for the benefit of the students and their training, which would inure to the benefit of the country in general.

Connect With Us : 0242202447 | 0551484843 | 0266361755 | 059 199 7513 |