UE/R: NAGRAT MARKS SILVER JUBILEE IN BOLGATANGA

THE Upper East Regional branch of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), has celebrated its 25th anniversary, with a call on members to remain resolute in their actions to compel the government yield to their demands for better conditions of service.

The leadership of the association said successive governments had overlooked the plight of teachers, and it was about time all members of the various teachers’ unions put aside partisan politics, and work collectively to enable the unions succeed in their demands for better salaries and allowances.

Speaking on the theme: “The Emergence of NAGRAT; the Beginning of Empowerment, Inspiring and Liberating the Ghanaian graduate teacher”, a retired educationist, Mr. Williams Atindana, asked NAGRAT members to remain steadfast to ensure the organization grow in “leaps and bounds.”

According to him, unity inspired the pioneers of the organization to muster the courage, set the wheels in motion to break away from the mother union, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) in 1996- against all odds.

Mr. Atindana, who is also a former principal for the St. John Boscos College of Education, indicated that all attempts by NAGRAT to become autonomous were construed as working against the status quo, and that, in spite of the fierce resistance, the dauntless teachers prevailed, hence the emergence of the union.

“As far back as 1996 within the domain of GNAT, especially teachers at the lower ranks started various forms of agitations as a result of their resentment against the status quo-the established structures, functions and operations of the GNAT”, Mr. Atindana added.

He, therefore, charged members of the union to lead a decent life that would inspire prospective members to join the developing union.

Established and inaugurated formally in 1998, NAGRAT has grown from strength-to-strength with a current membership population of over 30,000 teachers across the country.

The Upper East Regional Chairman of NAGRAT, John Akunzebe, disclosed that the union had about 1,600 members in the region.

He said plans were far advanced to scale up the membership in the region, stressing potential teachers should not shy away from joining the union because it had always taken the interest of its members seriously.

Meanwhile, the leadership used the occasion to inaugurate officially the new regional office of NAGRAT in Bolgatanga.

FROM FRANCIS DABRE DABANG, BOLGATANGA