Listen more and talk less- GNAT tells Second Lady

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has advised the wife of the Vice President, Mrs Matilda Amissah-Arthur to “listen more and talk less”.

The Public Relations Officer of GNAT, Mr Peter Tetteh Korda, who gave the advice on behalf of the association, said the wife of the Vice President did not have full appreciation of the plight of teachers.

He was reacting to a comment said to have been made by Mrs Amissah-Arthur in response to a request made to her by the authorities of the Presbyterian Basic School at Kukurantumi in the Eastern Region for the supply of chalk to the school.

Mrs Amissah-Arthur had gone to the area to donate assorted teaching and learning materials and hospital equipment to support Presby KG and Primary School and a CHPS compound at Kukurantumi in the East Akim municipality in the Eastern Region.

The items included text and reading books, computers and accessories, wheelchairs, crutches, drip stands and bandages.

All hands on deck

Making the request, the Headmistress of the school, Ms Juliet Oppong said: “the elderly say if you want to communicate something to God, you say it to the wind, we are, therefore, requesting of you to tell government to try and come to our aid with these things which are in short supply in the school.”

Hoping that her plea through the Vice president’s wife would receive a rather swift response, she rather received some scolding.

Responding to the request of the school, Mrs Amissah-Arthur is reported to have said “The headteacher has shocked me…she said you lack chalk and log books...I am very shocked that you are today asking me about chalk...how much is a box of chalk…I won’t give you chalk today, I won’t give you chalk tomorrow.”

According to reports, the wife of the Vice-President said she felt uncomfortable about conveying the school authorities’ appeal to the government to supply them items such as chalk when they could find alternative means to meet such need.

Reactions

The remarks of Mrs Amissah-Arthur have attracted mixed reactions from the public.

The PRO of GNAT, Mr Korda, who spoke in an interview with Joy News, said “the Second Lady actually goofed by saying that it should be the responsibility of teachers to provide chalk or buy chalk to teach the children.”

“If you go to a certain environment and you’re not too familiar with the terrain, it is better to listen more and talk less otherwise you are likely to goof”, he added.

Mr Korda said most public schools in the country, for some time now, had lacked basic materials for teaching, yet nothing had been done about it.

“It is factual that there are so many schools...and I mean public schools in this country today that for three good terms, not a single chalk is provided for any teacher to work with.

“GNAT has complained through the GES but because they do not have a budget and they rely on the Ministry of Education there is little they can do when the funds are not available,” he said.