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| Dr Bawumia at the Dambai College of Education |
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Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia,
Vice-Presidential Candidate of Nana Akufo-Addo, says the NPP sees the
need to restore allowances to trainee teachers and nurses as
non-negotiable, explaining that Teacher Education, in particular, is
critical to developing the quality human resource Ghana needs to succeed
in the competitive global community.
“We will restore the
teacher and nursing training allowances – for us, it is non-negotiable.
Every nation must prioritize certain sectors at every point in time and
invest the necessary resources to reap maximum benefits and, for the
NPP, Ghana today needs to invest every necessary resource in education
to give us the quality human resource we need to win the globally
competitive economic battle,” he said.
Dr. Bawumia made these
comments at the Dambai College of Education (DACE), on Monday, after
listening to the complaints of students and lecturers of the College on
conditions of Teacher Trainees and Colleges of Education across the
country.
Speaking at the Forum, Mr. Lambert Ahiadzu Sefadzi, Head
of the Social Sciences Department at the College, decried the current
conditions of Colleges of Education, stating that the current government
has no policy framework toward Teacher Education.
“There a lot
of problems facing colleges of education but only one has gained
prominence: the issue of the withdrawal of the Teacher Trainee
Allowances. However, there are other problems, including inability of
government to implement fully the Colleges of Education Bill, poor
infrastructure among others.
The Colleges of Education Bill
which was passed in 2012 making the colleges tertiary institutions is
not fully implemented. When it suits government, they cite parts of the
Bill, for example the withdrawal of Teacher Trainee Allowances.
It
would interest you to know that since 2012, tutors in Colleges of
Education have been doing the work of tertiary teachers but are paid
like teachers of basic and secondary cycle schools, though they have all
the qualification required by the National Council of Tertiary
Education.
Migration of teachers of Colleges of Education to the
NCTE payroll has also not been done. Government continues to drag its
feet saying there is no money while teachers continue to do everything
and produce Diploma certificated teachers, without any commensurate
compensation.
They have reduced entry requirements to attract a
lot of people to Colleges of Education. In the past, individuals were
required to have at least C6 in all core subjects to gain entry to the
Colleges of Education but because the cost of training has gone up and
individuals are financing their education, they have reduced the entry
requirement to D7 to attract a lot of students and this is what they are
using to boast that enrolment has increased in Colleges of Education.”
Asaanah
Peter Anagbila, a student of the College, stated that as a result of
the scrapping of the allowances, though it has been three (3) weeks
since the school reopened for classes, many of their colleagues have not
been able to return because they have not been able to find money to
pay for their fees and for their upkeep.
“I am happy to know that
Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr. Bawumia have indicated their resolve to restore
the Teacher Trainee Allowances. This is what gives us hope and we are
grateful. With the restoration of Teacher Trainee Allowances, Teacher
Education will be once again attractive in Ghana,” he added.
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When he took his turn, Dr. Bawumia
explained that the NDC government had decided to take the path of taxing
every conceivable item and abolishing all kinds of expenditure because
it had mismanaged the unprecedented resources that had come into the
country within the last 7 years.
“In the government’s desperation
and recourse to a fixation on taxation and unfortunate cuts in the hope
that it would fill the hole they have sunk the Ghanaian economy into,
they have also cancelled the all-important Teacher Trainee Allowances.
It
is instructive to note that this policy, like the many other desperate
schemes, was introduced around 2013 and 2014 after the Government had
recklessly borrowed and overspent in the 2012 Election year leading to
double digit fiscal deficits in 2012 and 2013.”
“Ladies and
Gentlemen, when you are desperate and when you find yourself in a hole,
any idea will sound great to you because you have very limited options.
It is therefore not surprising the number of desperate schemes and
policies this government keeps innovating in attempt to climb back up
from the hole,” he stated.
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia noted that the
decision to scrap the allowances was worrying as it betrays a lack of
appreciation of the need to prioritise education and especially the
training of key professionals such as teachers and nurses.
“As
the government continues to claim that the policy to scrap the
allowances is the best thing to have happened to Teacher Trainees and
Training Colleges, the supposed biggest beneficiaries of the policy,
trainees, continue to cry out and face unbearable hardships to keep
themselves in school after the cancellation of the allowances”, he
lamented.
Dr. Bawumia reiterated the NPP’s promise to restore the
allowances to ensure that Ghana develops the necessary human resource
for development.
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