‘We would not be drawn into debate over licensure exams’ – GNAT clarifies

Management of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has dissociated itself from a comment by one of its top executives suggesting it has taken a stance on the licensure examination for teachers.

Deputy General Secretary of the Association had said on Saturday that GNAT was opposed to plans by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to cancel the policy if voted into power.

According to Mr Daniel Affadu, the policy was important to differentiate themselves from “fake” teachers that have flooded the system.

“We feel that in Ghana we only hear of fake lawyers being arrested, have you ever heard of a fake teacher? No. But sometimes these SHS graduates, who go and teach people even in their homes, when they defile a student people say a ‘teacher has defiled the child’.

“So we want these benchmarks to be dealt with especially even in the private schools so that the teacher will have some importance,” he said at the last edition of Newsfile on Joy News for 2019.

However, a statement signed and issued by GNAT General Secretary, Thomas Musah, said GNAT’s official position on the policy was that as an organisation, theirs is to stand to defend what is good for Teachers and the education enterprise in general, adding “we work with every government, so we move with policies of every government.”

The statement ended by stating that GNAT “would not be drawn into any debate over the licensure policy.”

The licensure exams was introduced last year to improve the quality of teachers in the classrooms.

Read GNAT’s official position on the matter in the full statement issued on Monday below.

Myjoyonline.com