The Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh says over 93,000 teachers would have been employed by the end of President Akufo-Addo’s first term.
According to him, all these teachers would have been unemployed if former President John Mahama had been retained in the 2016 presidential polls.
The Minister contends that the Akufo-Addo led administration prioritised teachers and their welfare which helped to place Ghana second in a recent world ranking measuring the status of teachers.
He was speaking at the sixth edition of the Nation Building Updates in Accra.
Dr. Opoku Prempeh added that processes will begin on Monday, November 2, 2020, for over 6,000 teachers to be employed.
“In the last four years, the national clearances given and recruitments that have been done at the end this term would amount to 93,824. Under former President John Dramani Mahama, the country had unemployment graduate teachers association but under President Akufo-Addo over 24,000 teacher graduates have already been employed and on Monday, recruitment processes would open for another 6,000 graduate teachers.”
“Per the diploma culture, processes will close on Sunday where over 14,000 teachers are going to be recruited. This is because President Akufo-Addo cares about the Ghanaian students and the Ghanaian teachers.”
No teacher union strikes under Akufo-Addo
Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh also said the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led administration has treated teacher unions in the country with respect.
According to him, there have been no teacher union strikes throughout the close to four years that Nana Akufo-Addo has been in office.
“We have employed over 93,000 staff into the Ghana Education Service. We have paid over 90% of the legacy arrears. We have abolished the three months policy. We have had no teacher union strikes because we have dealt with them with respect and dignity,” he said.
The Minister further touted some achievements of the Akufo-Addo government.
“We have improved the system of promotion, and we all realized that in July when the promotion came, teachers were applauding us because in three months, they all got their salary. We have introduced a 1200 professional teacher allowance, we have upgraded colleges of education to university colleges.”
“We have reinstated the teacher trainee allowance. We have not only maintained the book and research allowance, but we have also increased the research component by 200%. From GHS500 to a GHS1000. And as we speak, the teacher unions in the tertiary education space is sitting with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to conclude on their conditions of service, something it never had since 2006 under President Kufour,” he added.
Source: Citinewsroom.com
