[ 2017-05-10 ]

Gov’t promises to pay teacher trainee allowance in September
The scrapped allowance for teacher trainees across
the country is to be restored by September this
year, government has announced.

Minister in charge of Tertiary Education,
Professor Kwesi Yankah, who revealed this said the
government is busily working on the modalities to
restore the allowance by the next academic year in
September

Speaking at this year’s National Congress of
Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana (TTAG) at
Dorma Ahenkro in the Brong Ahafo Region, Prof.
Yankah said the Akufo-Addo government is working
to ensure that newly posted teachers are paid on
time.

The congress was attended by the Executives of the
Association in all the 31 Colleges of Education in
the country. It discussed issues pertaining to
quality teacher education and professional
development.

Professor Yankah said quality education calls for
quality teaching, which he said demands that
teachers at all times aspire to upgrade themselves
to measure up to the challenge of their career.

Acting President of TTAG, Jonathan Apam, called on
government to redeem its pledge to restore their
allowance, and also their feeding grants on time
so as to relieve them of hardships.

The former president of TTAG, James Kwabena Bomfeh
said investing in quality education is the surest
way for national progress and called for a
national forum to discuss issues relating to good
educational systems for the country.

He said government is busy working on modalities
to restore teacher trainees allowance by September
and also see to it that newly posted teachers are
paid on time.

Background

The John Mahama-led government in 2014 scrapped
the teacher trainee allowance to be replaced with
the student loan scheme, a move that received
backlash from teacher unions and trainees across
the country.

Mr Mahama justified the decision and vowed to even
lose the 2016 election on principle than to
restore the allowance.

“The problem with this allowance was that apart
from the huge cost implication for the national
budget, it also compelled government over the
years to scale down the number of students
entering into the colleges of education, through
the imposition of what we call the quota
system,” Mr Mahama said in May 2016.

But the then candidate of the New Patriotic Party,
Nana Akufo-Addo, promised to restore the
allowance.

Source - 3news.com

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