The so-called Coalition of Concerned Teachers, a splinter teachers’ group, is gearing up for a street match in the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi. The teachers say they are petitioning the Ghana Education Service to stop GNAT and NAGRAT from deducting any dues from their salaries this month. They are also seeking to impeach the leadership of the main teacher organizations – National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT). The group says leaders of both associations had become agents of the government and have failed to appropriately represent the interest of teachers and therefore lost the locus to lead. The Coalition has been on a collision course with the government and education authorities after they repudiated a 15 per cent retention allowance offered teachers by the government. The Ghana Education Service ordered them to go back into the classrooms, threatening to deal with them and accusing some teachers of mischief. But they have parried the criticism, saying the decision to call off their sit-down strike was not influenced by the threat of the GES. One of the spokespersons of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers in Kumasi, Mr Godfred Agyekum, told Nhyira FM’s Ohemeng Tawiah the teachers were fighting a just course. He said the group hopes to change the constitutions of GNAT and NAGRAT, which they argue are inconsistent with the supreme laws of the land – the 1992 Constitution. Anybody who completes Teacher Training College is automatically a member of GNAT – something the teachers say is unlawful and unacceptable because it violates provisions of the 1992 Constitution which guarantees citizens freedom of association. They therefore want the GNAT Constitution amended to allow teachers the freedom to choose which association they want to belong to. Apart from today’s match, the teachers say they are planning a massive street protest on March 23, 2011. Story by Malik Abass Daabu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana