'Tsooboi' tactics have lost relevance in negotiations - Academic tells GNAT

President of the Presbyterian University, Prof. Emmanuel Adow Obeng says GNAT has made significant strides in protecting the interests and welfare of the Ghanaian teacher and has made a tremendous impact on the socio-economic agenda of Ghana.

He was however quick to state that the continuous use of force by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) to drum home their demands from the government, has yielded no results.

He, therefore, questioned how the association can position herself to become a reliable and vibrant teacher union in the 21st Century adding that “the tsooboi way which has been an effective tool of negotiation in the past years has lost its appeal…it can no longer and cannot continue to be an effective negotiation tool for GNAT”.

Prof Emmanuel Adow Obeng was speaking at the Quadrennial National Delegates’ Conference of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) in Kumasi.

According to him, such politically tainted approaches are no longer effective indicating that a tsooboi in the time of a sitting government is interpreted as sabotage against the government and support for the opposition party.

To him, the association can become reliable, vibrant, and attractive through knowledge creation and acquisition as well as the effective and wide use of technology, continuous professional development in relevant areas of the association to enhance the skills of members.

Prof. Adow Obeng also called for the establishment of a GNAT institute to focus on research to improve education and make their voices heard.

He said such an institute would also help train members on the new digitalized world and make their views the most sought after in any policy decision making.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, has announced a 7% increase in the base pay of public sector employees for 2022.

He said the four percent raise planned previously in 2021 would be increased to seven percent.