'Forge a common front' Teachers, other educational workers advised

03-28-08
Page 11

THE Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Sports, Mrs Angelina Baiden-Amissah, has stressed the need for teachers and other educational workers to forge a common front in order to achieve their objectives.
“It is only in unity that we can achieve quality education for all. A family divided against itself cannot stand and make any substantial achievements,” she said adding that “we must, therefore, approach our individual tasks as educators with a common aspiration and a common goal”.
Mrs Baiden-Amissah made the call at the opening of Education International Regional Advisory Committee (EIRAC) meeting in Accra.
The programme which was on the theme: “Uniting For Stronger Unions’”, was attended by representatives of the committee from Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo and Zimbabwe.
The objectives of Education International include the promotion and protection of human and trade rights, the promotion of quality public-funded education for all, building the capacity of member unions to achieve their objectives, as well as empower union leadership at all levels to enable them to provide democratic and effective leadership.
Mrs Baiden-Amissah said it was incumbent upon all to search for a viable model of organisation and adequate funding of educational institutions.
Ghana’s commitment and contribution to Africa’s educational development, she said, remained unquestioned, and that the government would leave no stone unturned in its bid to address the challenges facing the education sector.
Welcoming the participants, the General Secretary of the Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union (TEWU), Mr Dan Ayim Antwi, said unity was the hallmark of trade unionism and its absence could be “likened to the disperasl of seeds on rock or rolling stone that gathers no moist”.
“It is only the unity of our unions that can strengthen our hands to give both qualitative and quantitative services to our members and the students we educate, and thereby facilitate the rapid development of our nations,” he said.
The General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Mrs Irene Duncan-Adanusah, reiterated the need for the teachers to have a common front.