Kennedy Agyapong: I Support Teachers Strike But �

Hon. Kennedy Agyapong, New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Assin Central has publicly thrown his support behind the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) for their decision to go on strike. To him the time to embark on the strike is very wrong since the West African Senior Schools Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) is about to commence. NAGRAT on Friday gave an indication that they will embark on an industrial strike action due to unresolved issues concerning their conditions of service. This prompted government�s intervention which led to an emergency meeting with the leadership of NAGRAT and that of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) to take steps to avert the strike. According to the outspoken NPP MP, both parties should negotiate to avert the strike since final year students are about to sit for the WASSCE. �Education is very important to me; I will plead with them (teachers) to continue negotiating with government. I support the teachers 100% but the timing is wrong. Students are going to write their final exams and they (the teachers) think going on strike will have an impact. They should think about the impact and the amount of money they will receive, and compare it to the entire students they will destroyed if they embark on this strike, they should consider,� he pleaded. Speaking on HELLO FM in Kumasi over the weekend, the Assin Central MP further stressed that; �teachers should at least wait for two to three weeks after the exams is over then battle the government for their money. I am not saying the government shouldn�t pay them. "So is NAGRAT receiving a realistic salary? If they (teachers) are, they wouldn�t have complained�. Meanwhile, the National Association of Graduate Teachers says its decision to embark on strike on Monday still holds despite a last gasp attempt by government to avert the strike. NAGRAT failed to attend the crunch meeting called at the behest of the president to address their grievances. NAGRAT President, Christian Addae-Poku is purportedly to have told JOY NEWS that government did not officially contact the executives of NAGRAT to communicate the intended meeting but rather engaged in a �media spinning�. �The media spinning that was done yesterday, the whole Ghana will know that the right way to invite people to a meeting is not to issue a press statement to the media and not contact the people directly involved,� he stated.