The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has assured its members there will be no compromise in the December 2010 deadline for the implementation of the Single Spine Pay Policy for the sector. NAGRAT President Christian Addai-Poku says the association is working with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to ensure arrangements in the roadmap are adhered to. There have been speculations the pay policy for teachers will not be implemented in December this year, but Mr Addai-Poku has allayed the fears. “As far as we are concerned, the roadmap that the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission and organized labour agreed upon indicates that teachers will be on the single spine in December and we are sure that we’re working towards that. I don’t think there will be any compromise anywhere that in December there will be excuses”, he told Luv Fm at an event to reward NAGRAT executives in the Ashanti region. Mr Addai-Poku says the association is also embarking on a number of initiatives to economically empower the graduate teacher. He state that “since the inception of NAGRAT, I think the image of teachers that used to be going down is now going up. The days that we used to think that the reward of the teacher was in heaven is past.” “Now NAGRAT, apart from fighting for better conditions of service, also engages in a lot of welfare activities like loans scheme; we have so far given about 700 units of cars to NAGRAT members. We are in negotiations to ensure that the housing scheme that we’ve proposed will come into fruition, so we have a lot to do”, he said. Meanwhile, Mr Addai-Poku says NAGRAT is taking delivery of an additional 84 cars for distribution to members. Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh/Luv FM/Ghana