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The General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Mr. David Yaw Ofori Acheampong, has advised newly trained teachers to be more professional and diligent in the discharge of their duties.

He asked that they showed strong commitment, dedication and devotion to work, reminding them that, “teaching is a profession and not a vocation”.

He was addressing the maiden Brong-Ahafo Regional GNAT Youth Summit held under the theme “Promoting the Development of the Young Teacher” in Sunyani.

The one-day event aimed among other things at identifying and addressing challenges facing young teachers to enhance their performance.

It was also to build the capacity of the ‘Youth Coordinators’ to effectively discharge their responsibilities of promoting the welfare of members.

The programme brought together about 135 participants drawn from across the entire region.

Mr. Acheampong said the expectation was that those, who had taken to teaching would work conscientiously – put the interest of their pupils, the community and nation at the centre of everything they did.

He expressed regret that some of them perceived teaching as vocation - a stepping stone to move to their preferred profession.

That, he said was wrong and asked teachers with such mindset to quit the profession to prevent doing a disservice to the nation and to themselves.

He told teachers that “success in life depends on ones psychic and mentality” and urged them to discard negative perceptions.

Mr. Acheampong encouraged them to work with passion, pointing out that teaching guaranteed job security globally.

Mr. Thomas Musah, GNAT National Youth Coordinator, said study by the Association showed that attracting, retaining and promoting the development of young teachers were a challenge – impeding membership growth.