Some disillusioned teachers; people who no longer have confidence in the ideals of the GNAT refer to leadership in the association as a circle of powerful individuals who only meet to think and take care of themselves. They describe the GNAT Youth Desk as a joke, a mechanism to muzzle the youth while siphoning money from teachers for an indolent leadership. That, of course, is not true!
But, though the possibility of a few individuals with selfish interests becoming leaders in the association cannot be ruled out, these isolated cases, if they exist cannot reflect what pertains in the association generally.
Well, now, the GNAT Youth Policy is in full motion. Regional and district GNAT Youth Coordinators have duly been selected across the entire country and trained at separate seminars at Sunyani and Ho in 2011. These coordinators have subsequently developed plans of action reflecting the aspirations of the larger constituency of youthful teachers in the country. They include sports competitions, educational trips, entrepreneurship ventures and others to present an opportunity for the youth to entertain themselves, share ideas and to network.
But these plans will remain only plans if not supported with enough resources at the various levels; the GNAT Youth Policy needs logistical support. It is one thing having a policy and it is entirely another thing setting it in motion.
The Regional Coordinators for instance require an office, furnished with a computer (preferably a laptop) and a modem, furniture and enough supplies of office stationery. The essence of a portable camera to capture images of activities undertaken cannot be overemphasized. However, care must be taken not to reduce the youth policy to a mere desk job; much of the work must be done interacting with teachers on the fields and that requires a lot of movement, a lot of activity hence the need for a means of transport—an extra pick-up truck or a good motor bike for a start.
Another essential requirement in moving the GNAT Youth forward is acceptance and receptiveness. The GNAT Youth Coordinators must participate in meetings at the various levels of the association extensively. While giving them a sense of belonging it would also enable them to put the aspirations of the youth in proper perspectives. It would equally help to dispel the notion that leadership in the association is a small clique of oldies that do not truly have the youth at heart.
Youthful teachers in Ghana have become tired of workshops where facilitators come with markers and whiteboards to teach what teachers already know.
Officers at the various levels of the Association (National, Regional, District and Local levels) need to accept the role of the Youth in moving the GNAT Youth forward. There is a whole world of youthful teachers out there who naturally, want things done with dispatch and who have the tendency to become frustrated when things which should happen with alacrity rather drag on for months and weeks.
Disagreements are normal in every human institution. The various Regional and District Secretaries are undoubtedly, used to a certain way of doing things that the youth coordinators may take time to learn and or adjust to. That is normal and should not give room for resentment and acrimony between them.
Though the GNAT secretaries may find some proposals by their respective youth coordinators unusual, they (the secretaries) need not show the coordinators how disgusting and unacceptable these proposals are. They must deal with such proposals with tact in order not to make these coordinators feel useless.
Youthful teachers are undoubtedly very veritable partners in taking the GNAT to the next level of modern trade union movement and need to be treated as such.
The Coordinators need to know how much (in terms of logistics) is available for them to run their programmes. Knowing this, they can prioritize their activities properly. The association must also urgently design and employ foolproof mechanisms to check and monitor expenditure. Leaving the GNAT Youth Desk at the discretionary mercy of district and regional secretaries and councils is as self-destructive as thrusting monies to the hands of the youth coordinators without proper monitoring.
A good amount of goodwill between various stakeholders in the GNAT is essential in moving the GNAT Youth forward.