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Waiting on tomorrow…
As noted in recent weeks, the Mahama administration, posturing for upcoming elections, has continually pat itself on the back for all the progress it has made in the education sector. But what happens when people ask follow ups about their claims? Well, in the case of the 100 million exercise books the Mahama government has supposedly delivered since 2013, they kick the can. More precisely, they said they would provide records “tomorrow,” which would be fine except it’s now been four days… As the election heats up, I’m sure the NPP will leave no stone unturned.
Where do the parties stand on education?
The University of Cape Coast hosted an event recently which allowed each of the four major political parties (NDC, NPP, CPP, and PPP) to flesh out their plans for education prior to the election (December 7). Notably, the NDC and NPP have already launched their “manifestos”—we’ve covered the NDC plan, and the responses it has elicited, over the past couple weeks. So what’d they say?
-NDC: More or less quiet on future plans but did mention ambitions to provide most basic schools with ICT laboratories
-NPP: Said they would “pay the fees of teachers who are undertaking distance education courses in order for them to concentrate on their teaching in the classroom… Tax waivers will be also be given to all teachers who buy and import vehicles for their personal use in the country.” Concluded by adding that they would build 350 community schools.
-PPP: Will “within one year… standardize education from kindergarten to senior high school levels providing logistics and other infrastructure that teachers and students will need to ensure quality education.” Also said they would upgrade the level of all teachers in the country and will punish parents who refuse to send their children to school.
-CPP: Mentioned they “will discourage the establishment of private tertiary institutions and those that will be allowed to set up must have and prove their capacity to help solve particular needs of the economy.” Wrapped up by saying that they’d modernize the agricultural colleges and create a graduate pool in certain strategic fields similar to the Cuban Medicla Brigade and will export such graduates to other countries in need.
Employed, unemployed, employed?
On Monday, the Ministry of Education (MOE) issued a memo stating all newly trained teachers would receive postings but would “not be issued with appointment letters.” On Tuesday, though, the MOE did a 180: it retracted the memo, citing several levels of miscommunication. In his attempts to clear up the ordeal, the Deputy Education minister in charge of Tertiary education, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, made certain to mention that a new memo would be issued, and it will ask all 16,432 newly trained teachers to report to work on October 3rd… with the small caveat that the new directives are entirely dependent on the approval of financial clearance.
Is there a problem with teacher licensing policy?
A journalist, Kwasi Pratt Jr., has started raising questions about the National Inspectorate Board’s (NIB) decision to license new teachers before they are allowed to teach. As the policy stands, nonprofessional teachers will be given temporal licenses for three years during which they are expected to acquire a permanent license. Pratt finds the policy exclusionary and problematic: “How many professional teachers do we have? And are the numbers adequate? No they are not. The numbers are obviously not adequate and if you exclude nonprofessional teachers, I mean education will suffer a huge drop.” To be fair to the NIB, the policy has received support from the Ghana National Association of Teachers and other teach unions, and Pratt is socialist. However, socialist or not, Pratt is right in asking questions: is this policy really going to help?
A lot of moving parts…
Following up on last week, it looks like the teachers on strike are getting their way: the government has confirmed that it will transfer them from the GES payroll onto the Colleges of Education (COE) payroll. So, the Colleges of Education Teachers Association (CETAG) has called off its strike in response. However, a separate report has stated that the GES is planning to enroll staff from the 37 COE onto the country’s Single Spine Salary Pay Structure next month. But, the Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper, also said that not all existing COE staff meet the minimum requirements for the new pay scheme. And, in their cases, they will be moved onto the GES payroll. All in all, it seems like it will be something to pay attention to over the next month or so as the plans are rolled out.
Obligated to mention
Though not really an education issue, it has been covered by major news outlets and is occurring on the University of Ghana (UG) campus. It started with a few academics over the summer, but now the campaign to have a Gandhi statue removed from the campus. Well, apparently Gandhi was a racist who developed quite negative feelings towards Africans while he spent time in South Africa. This, combined with the fact that there is no real historical reason that he should be memorialized in Ghana, and it seems that it’d be fine to part ways with the tribute. However, the background of the statue has some diplomats arguing that the juice isn’t worth the squeeze. As it turns out, the statue was brought to the campus in June by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee. And so it looks like a bit of a catch 22: a geopolitical headache or a domestic one.
Also…
Following up on last week, it looks like the teachers on strike are getting their way: the government has confirmed that it will place them on the Colleges of Education payroll.
The government has said it will spend $75 million over the next five years to promote student literacy.
The University of Ghana has again been ranked one of the world’s most reputable academic institutions in the Times Higher Education World Rankings.
A GES survey has dubbed The Brong Ahafo and Upper East regions as having the best teacher punctuality at the pre-tertiary level.
The Youth for Ghana Program launched in Accra this week to give the youth in Ghana’s education system a voice to express their “aspirations and vision” for Ghana. This program, is aimed at informing the development of a Long-Term National Development Plan (LTNDP). It’s a little early to tell what exactly that will mean… more to come.