Mr. Alex Tettey-Enyo, Director-General, Ghana Education Service
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16th June, 2010
GES Needs 33,185 Trained Teachers To Fill Vacancies
The Ghana Education Service (GES) says that although it needs over 33,185 trained teachers to fill vacancies at the basic education level nationwide for the next academic year, only a little over 8,000 new teachers will be available.
The teacher training colleges, the main sources of teacher supply for the public basic school, will supply only 8,625 teachers for the 2010/2011 academic year, which begins this September.
To address the shortfall, the GES will engage services to national service personnel, teaching assistants under the National Youth and Employment Programme and community volunteer teachers, Victor Mantey, Director of Teacher Education, told the Times in Accra.
This, he said, was a short term measure meant to close the gap and not a permanent solution.
Mr. Mantey said though the training colleges are expected to turn out 9,000 teachers every year, shortages do occur due to absenteeism and refusal of teachers to accept posting to the deprived communities.
Shedding light on the 33,185 vacancies, he explained actually the classrooms are not empty but the teachers who are handling them are not professional teachers.
“Vacancies are created as a result of deaths, retirements withdrawals and study leave,” he added.
Mr. Mantey said under the new education reform basic requirement for all teachers at the basic school level should be Diploma in Basic Education.
“In realisation of this goal, the GES in 2005 started a programme through distance learning to ensure that pupil teachers in the system receive training to qualify as professional teachers, while certificate
‘A’ teachers upgrade themselves in the universities”, he said.
On teachers who refuse to abide by the terms of their training Bond and abscond or leave the service after their training, Mr. Mantey said, such teachers would track and make to pay a penalty since they were sponsored by the government.
“Teachers who breach the Bond will be traced and made to pay a penalty for breach of contract. For those who cannot be traced, their guarantors will be held liable for the penalty”, he emphasised.
According to a release by GES on guidelines for posting of newly trained Diploma in Basic Education teachers for the 2010/2011 academic year, said out of the 8,625 teachers to graduate this year, 6670 trained for general studies, 1,008 for mathematics and science 777 for technical skills and 170 for French language.
The report said all teachers who majored in technical skills, French language, Mathematics and science would be posted to teach the subjects in the junior high schools.
They would only be assigned to teach other subjects which were additional to their main subjects and within approved teaching loads.
The remaining 6,670 teachers, would be posted to teach in the primary and junior high schools depending on the teacher demand existing in schools.
According to GES, teachers who report late or refuse posting by the end of October, this year, would be treated as having vacated post and “the GES sanctions for vacation of post would be applied”.
Driven by the realization that newly-trained teachers posted to deprived areas are often exposed to social hazards, the GES has directed that they should be posted in pairs to the deprived areas.
The teacher training colleges, the main sources of teacher supply for the public basic school, will supply only 8,625 teachers for the 2010/2011 academic year, which begins this September.
To address the shortfall, the GES will engage services to national service personnel, teaching assistants under the National Youth and Employment Programme and community volunteer teachers, Victor Mantey, Director of Teacher Education, told the Times in Accra.
This, he said, was a short term measure meant to close the gap and not a permanent solution.
Mr. Mantey said though the training colleges are expected to turn out 9,000 teachers every year, shortages do occur due to absenteeism and refusal of teachers to accept posting to the deprived communities.
Shedding light on the 33,185 vacancies, he explained actually the classrooms are not empty but the teachers who are handling them are not professional teachers.
“Vacancies are created as a result of deaths, retirements withdrawals and study leave,” he added.
Mr. Mantey said under the new education reform basic requirement for all teachers at the basic school level should be Diploma in Basic Education.
“In realisation of this goal, the GES in 2005 started a programme through distance learning to ensure that pupil teachers in the system receive training to qualify as professional teachers, while certificate
‘A’ teachers upgrade themselves in the universities”, he said.
On teachers who refuse to abide by the terms of their training Bond and abscond or leave the service after their training, Mr. Mantey said, such teachers would track and make to pay a penalty since they were sponsored by the government.
“Teachers who breach the Bond will be traced and made to pay a penalty for breach of contract. For those who cannot be traced, their guarantors will be held liable for the penalty”, he emphasised.
According to a release by GES on guidelines for posting of newly trained Diploma in Basic Education teachers for the 2010/2011 academic year, said out of the 8,625 teachers to graduate this year, 6670 trained for general studies, 1,008 for mathematics and science 777 for technical skills and 170 for French language.
The report said all teachers who majored in technical skills, French language, Mathematics and science would be posted to teach the subjects in the junior high schools.
They would only be assigned to teach other subjects which were additional to their main subjects and within approved teaching loads.
The remaining 6,670 teachers, would be posted to teach in the primary and junior high schools depending on the teacher demand existing in schools.
According to GES, teachers who report late or refuse posting by the end of October, this year, would be treated as having vacated post and “the GES sanctions for vacation of post would be applied”.
Driven by the realization that newly-trained teachers posted to deprived areas are often exposed to social hazards, the GES has directed that they should be posted in pairs to the deprived areas.
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