The Ghana National Association of Teachers has commended the Government for setting up a special Sub-Committee to investigate the causes of the delayed payment of salaries to some of its members. The Association has appealed to the Sub-Committee to work effectively to clear the backlog of salary arrears by the end of June this year to bring relief to the affected teachers. The National President of the Association, Mr. Joseph Kwaku Adjei made the appeal at the weekend at an Editors' Forum at Agona Swedru in the Central region. The forum, the first in the history of the 75-year-old Association, was to deepen the relationship between editors, senior journalists and the leadership of the GNAT, to mutually enhance to development of education. "We want to sit down with those who really matter in the scheme of things so far as media organizations are concerned to iron out any differences that might exist so that we could operate in an atmosphere of mutual respect and industrial harmony," Mr Adjei said. Mr Adjei reminded the Government to come clearly with specific details of the programme of teacher motivation covering areas as personal emolument, mortgage schemes and health safety since teachers constitute the most critical group to implement the educational reform launched last April. The GNAT said Government should modify the present residential accommodation of teacher-trainees from IN-IN-OUT to IN-IN-IN-OUT to enable the trainees remain on campus for three years. The Association said the three years would deepen the academic knowledge of the trainees and pursue education foundation courses while getting predisposed to practical teaching. The fourth year will be used to do supervision or teaching practice and also sitting for the National Teaching Council professional examination, and thereafter to be licensed. The Vice President of the GJA, Mr Affail Monney, called on Ghanaians to massively support the new education reforms to make it a success. He however, expressed concern about the rising cost of education, and said it should not be a social filter between the rich and the poor. "We are worried about the prohibitive cost of education. Education should not be a social filter to separate the rich from the poor," Mr. Monney said. Source: GNA