The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has asked heads of schools across the country and District Directors of Education to cut the pretence and paint the exact picture in the country’s schools.

The Association wants them to speak in order to put pressure on the managers of the country's education to act to save the educational system.

Speaking at the 6^th Quadrennial Delegate Conference of GNAT at the Assin South district, Dr. Isaac Owusu, the Central Regional Chairman of the Association, said conditions in the schools represent a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode if the situation is not addressed holistically.

“You heads of schools and directors of education need to cut the pretence and break the silence. You are all suffering,” he said.

Dr Isaac Owusu's call comes at a time when parents of SHS students are complaining about challenges relating to the free SHS programme.

Among challenges confronting the free SHS programme that were mentioned by numerous callers into Joy FMs Super Morning Show Wednesday, May 26 are; lack of accommodation facilities resulting in students sleeping on the floor, congestion in classrooms, inconvenience relating to erratic schedules for the double track system, poor quality of food served to students, little attention to end of semester examinations and minimal contact hours.

“Paint the pictures in the educational sector and pile pressure on the managers of the country’s education to fix the challenges bedevilling the sector so we could get solutions,” he added.

He said, the silence of the heads of the schools and directors of education has been deafening enough, and it was about time they began speaking about the real situation in the schools in the country.

Dr Owusu intimated that teachers and students continue to suffer in silence and bear the brunt of the mess that has been created and, therefore, wants the silence broken by piling pressure on the managers of the educational system to fix the problems.

“It is not the duty of the teacher to provide textbooks. It is not the duty of the teacher to provide infrastructure. It is the duty of the employer to do so. If they aren’t doing so, let’s tell them to fix the challenges,” he said.

Assin South Chairman of GNAT, and a member of the National Council of GNAT, Rockson Boateng, lamented how teachers are being treated unfairly as the government has failed to upgrade those that have gone for further studies.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Prof. Dora Francisca Edu-Buandoh, called on GNAT to engage their employer to address the challenges militating against the sector.