The National Association of Graduate Teachers, NAGRAT, and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers have labeled the Ghana National Association of Teachers, GNAT, as an enemy in the struggle for better conditions of service for the country�s teachers.
The Deputy General Secretary of GNAT in charge of labor Relations, Awortwi Nkansah, at a news conference Monday criticized the strike action by NAGRAT and the coalition saying they had acted in bad faith.
The leadership of GNAT accused NAGRAT and CCT of having sinister motives aimed at portraying GNAT as anti-teacher and apathetic to the plight of its members.
But speaking to enthusiastic teachers after a demonstration in Kumasi over Government�s delay in addressing their concerns, the President of NAGRAT, Christian Addae Poku said GNAT is an enemy of the teacher and advised members not to be discouraged by the comments of GNAT.
�We have an enemy fighting us. Under normal circumstance, we are not here to talk about that; but let us tell our brothers and sisters in GNAT that they cannot turn the side of government,� he charged.
The President of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers, Ernest Opoku, addressing the teachers, charged them to be �resolute and firm� in demanding their fair share of the national cake.
Charging the about a thousand male and female teachers, he said, �this is the national cake. We are cutting, and if you don�t sharpen your knives; you can�t cut it and the time has come for us to sharpen our knives to face government boot by boot.�
The Ashanti Regional Coordinating Director of the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council received a petition from the demonstrators on behalf of the Regional Minister Samuel Sarpong who was not present.
He congratulated the teachers for organizing a peaceful march and promised to forward their grievances to the presidency with dispatch.
The teachers, who are on strike, are protesting unfavorable conditions of service and want government to among others, pay their incremental allowances in arrears since 2011.
They also want government to resolve bottlenecks regarding their pension payments.
The march, which begun from the Children�s Park in Amakom went through some principal streets and ended at the Regional Coordinating Council.
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