The leadership of the Ghana National Association of Teachers GNAT has protested against compelling teachers to compulsory attend continuous professional development courses that have been organized by some District Directors of Education and National Teaching Council NTC accredited Service providers.
According to GNAT, they have noticed instances on social media where some District Education Director is forcing teachers to attend a purported NTC accredited Service providers that claimed to be experts in Teacher Education, Professional Development and Education Research. The association said it is not against teachers seeking to upgrade themselves through continuous professional development since the association article 3(1)a amended constitution in 2018 supports that.
But the National Teaching Council NTC taking the continuous professional development as a means to extort monies from the ordinary teacher at the expense of the employer of the Ghana Education Service, the association will resist it with all their efforts.
The association said the part three of the Education Regulatory Body Act 2020, section 60(a), the functions of the National Teaching Council is to advise the minister on professional standard and licensing of teachers and not engage accredited Service providers to organize CPD for Teachers.
The role of the GES to implement approved educational policies in the pre-tertiary schools is now taken over by the NTC. According to GNAT NTC has moved from being a regulator to being both a regulator and an implementor of education policies. The association wishes to advise the NTC to stay in its mandate to ensure industrial peace in the workspace.
Cautions to GES in compelling teachers.
GNAT is calling on the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service to call all the District Education Directors and the National Teaching Council to stop that criminal act of compelling teachers to pay monies to attend professional development courses since it is duty of Ghana Education Service to organize professional courses to upgrade teachers professional skills and not the NTC.
