The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has called for the introduction of book and research allowances for teachers at the pre-tertiary educational level in the country. "With the fast changing global village, teachers spend a lot to keep abreast of the rapidly-changing methods and content of education and this we have always done at our peril," NAGRAT said In addition, the association has appealed to the government to make the World Teachers Day, usually celebrated on October 5, ever year, a holiday for teachers, pupils and all education workers to enable them to celebrate the day. The President of NAGRAT, Mr Christian Addai-Poku, made the call at the NAGRAT Day celebration to mark the association's 12th anniversary in Ho in the Volta Region. The day was marked with a float through the principal streets of Ho, which ended at the OLA Girls Senior High School. During the float, the teachers carried placards some of which read: "Don't Play Politics With Education", "Fair Wages and Salaries Commission Be Fair To All", "Connect Teachers To Single Spine On Time," and "Teachers Are Bleeding". The celebration was held on the theme: "Quality Education: The Challenging Role of Teacher Unions". Mr Addai-Poku said although the teachers could not compare themselves with their colleagues at the universities and polytechnics, the association believed that, "if a morsel of what they take could drop for us it will be appropriate because we deserve it". He said although politicians, both past and present, spoke profoundly about their successes of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the country would fail the test come 2015, if children continued to study under trees and lay prostrate on the floor to write. The nation, he said, among other things, would fail if classes continued to lack well-motivated and qualified teachers. Mr Addai-Poku said NAGRAT was gravely worried about the way things were going with respect to the spingle spine pay policy, and that the release by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) had clearly distorted the analogous philosophy within the Ghana Education Service to the disadvantage of teachers. "We, therefore, called on the FWSC to expedite action on correcting this anomaly. We know steps are being taken but how fast that will be is our worry. We want to make it clear that NAGRAT will not accept unwarranted delays neither will we accept any structure that will disadvantage us," he cautioned. Responding, the acting Executive Director of the FWSC, Mr George Smith-Graham, assured the teachers the necessary steps were being taken to ensure that they were put on the single spine salary structure smoothly. He expressed the hope that it would be done by November. The Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, in address read on his behalf, commended the founding fathers, mentors, the leadership and all members of NAGRAT for instituting the day. He said the government had implemented its campaign promise of providing professional allowances to teachers, and that the government had concluded negotiations with teacher unions for the payment of allowances to specific subject teachers. During the rally, the NAGRAT relaunched its magazine christined Excellence, aimed at providing information to its rank and file. Source: Daily Graphic