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Councilor Daniel Fenyi has asked NDC running mate Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang to “reconnect” and “reconcile” with Ghanaian teachers before the upcoming elections on 7 December.
The Counselor made this disclosure on his Facebook wall where he wrote:
There is something OFF about Professor Naana and I think I should find it and fix it before December 7th. It is quite difficult to point that out, but as Councilor Daniel Fenyi, I have tried some explanation of what could possibly be OFF. Not surprisingly, she has abandoned the education sector for the markets, trying to attract market women and the world of feminism when the education sector should have been her strongest place. However, I am not sure if the ‘illiterate’ market space would ‘connect’ with a ‘university professor’.
In my various media and face-to-face engagements in political speeches with teachers, none sound positive towards Naana (aside from minority teachers carrying NDC cards). To put it bluntly, she doesn’t appeal to the average Ghanaian teacher (as a politician).
Teachers feel that she ruined the education sector. Her misgivings are deeply ingrained, not only because of her poor performance, but also because she is a teacher herself and many hoped that she would better represent the interests of teachers, just as the late teacher Atta Mills did. Interestingly, the apathy of teachers towards Naana extends to all levels and categories of teachers: basic, secondary and tertiary teachers, and even teachers-in-training at universities.
Under her, some teachers worked for 2/3 years and received only 3 months of salary. Assignments for nurses and trainees were canceled. The hiring of teachers was openly blocked. But, for God’s sake, Naana almost canceled the Book and Research Grant (BRA) for teachers as if she didn’t know its relevance. In fact, she made it seem like the professors aren’t conducting any research, but simply “cutting” the money when she (as a university professor) should have known better. Even chalk became a NATIONAL topic of discussion.
Fixing the shutdown
Naana must make conscious efforts to attract, reconnect and ‘reconcile’ with the masters by
1. Make SPECIFIC commitments about what you intend to do for teachers in terms of employment, wages, benefits and pensions.
2. inform teachers if the BRA, in its current form, will be maintained, increased or eliminated.
3. be clear about teachers in training; your assignment and publications.
