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Advancing quality education is a priority for the Ghana National Association of Teachers, which has been working extensively on the more serious barriers to quality as another academic year begins.

GNAT is concerned that the reduction of the secondary school period from four to three years will be detrimental to students, with academic standards adversely affected by the reduction. GNAT recommends decisions regarding education be placed above partisan politics and favours a reinstatement of a four year term of secondary education.

EFAIDS Coordinator Helena Awurusa insisted, “we would have to resist any attempt by politicians who would frequently change educational policies to score political points”.

The longstanding issue of teacher shortages was highlighted at a regional meeting of union delegates under the theme ‘Achieving Quality Public Education by 2015: The Role of Stakeholders’. Union activists shared their dismay that while there was an ongoing shortfall in teachers, conversely applications from graduate teachers were being rejected by the Ghana Education Service.

According to Helena Awurusa, such contradictory policies have contributed to a situation where “the untrained teacher population in the deprived areas is higher than the trained teacher population” and “children are still schooling under trees and sitting on stones in the deprived areas”.

Despite the union’s commitment, Awurusa warned, “until all these issues are addressed, it would be very difficult to attain quality in education”.