As the 2024 general election approaches, the appropriateness of the nursing and teacher trainee allowance has resurfaced, with some academic analysts calling for a thorough debate on the subject.

A governance expert, Dr John Osae Kwarpong, said the allowance must be sustained but there should be a cap on admission, while two others urged the political class to discuss the subject outside politics.

“In my view, to keep incentivising students to pursue careers in teaching and nursing, the allowance must be maintained. However, to make it financially sustainable, there must be a cap on admissions. It is the price that has to be paid for making this policy choice,” Dr Osae-Kwapong told the Daily Graphic.

A Political Science lecturer at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Gilbert Arhinful Aidoo, added that “a balanced approach could involve maintaining the allowance”, but suggested the implementation of “reforms to ensure sustainability” of the policy.

A fellow political scientist and governance expert, Dr Samuel Kofi Darkwa, however, insisted that the focus should be on providing the infrastructure to accommodate graduates from the teaching and nursing training institutions rather than concentrating on the training allowances.

Context

Allowances for teacher and nursing trainees have become a major political subject following the different approaches advocated by the two major political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National democratic Congress (NDC), ahead of the 2016 elections.

At the time, then President John Dramani Mahama said the NDC would prefer to absorb teacher and nursing trainees onto the student loan scheme in order to expand admissions, but the NPP incorporated the restoration of the teacher and nursing trainee allowances into the party’s 2016 manifesto.

Although the party eventually restored the allowances, the NPP government has struggled to deliver on schedule, with some former students suggesting that they completed their entire training cycles without receiving the relevant allowances.

Indeed, during a campaign programme in the Bono Region on May 13, this year, a final-year nursing student confronted the Vice-President and flag bearer of the NPP, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, that he had never received a training allowance all throughout her stay in nursing college.

Within days, the  government released funds to settle some aspect of the allowances in arrears as promised by the Vice-President.

But with the difficulty in keeping pace with the monthly stipends for the students, the subject has refused to die in the campaign messaging towards the 2024 polls.

The teacher trainees population alone is 67,412 in all 46 public colleges of education. The teacher trainee allowance has been GH¢400 per month since 2017.

The President of the Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana, Soale Razak, said their members received only GH¢149 because the remaining GH¢251 was used to cover feeding in all public colleges of education.

He said the allowance covered only the number of days students spent on campus.

“Currently, the allowance is being paid for only eight months out of the 12 calendar months, while in 2023, the allowance was paid for only six months out of the 12 calendar months, Mr Soale said.

For this year, he said, “we have received allowances for only two months, and this was to cover the four months arrears of our first semester which we completed in April, 2024”.

Arguments

“The cancelation of these allowances, as per the NDC when they were in government, was to remove the cap on admissions to these training institutions, and migrate the students on to a loan scheme. It was a politically costly policy choice even though it made sense,” Dr Osae-Kwapong said.

“The NPP promised to restore it if elected, and for which they were politically rewarded. They followed through with their promise, and restored the allowances once elected, except it has come with considerable payment delays.

This raises the question of whether the allowances are financially sustainable,” he added.

Dr Osae-Kwapong said to keep incentivising students to pursue careers in teaching and nursing, the allowances must be maintained but advocated a cap on admissions to make it financially sustainable.

Critical need

Dr Darkwa said instead of haggling over the allowances, there was “a critical need to prioritise reforms about the allowances for nurses and teacher trainees, among other pertinent issues”.

The academic emphasised that it was essential to balance the provision of financial support for nurses and teacher trainees during their education to facilitate their transition into gainful employment  after graduation.

“Failing to do so would be counterproductive, as it would leave these professionals without employment opportunities and lacking the essential tools required to perform their jobs effectively,” he added.

Important decision

Mr Arhinful said whether to maintain the allowance or not was a decision that should be based on a comprehensive evaluation of its impact on education quality, workforce stability and fiscal sustainability.

“The maintenance or removal of nursing and teacher training allowances in Ghana is a significant political issue. They serve as incentives for students to pursue these professions, provide financial relief and ensure quality of services,” he stated.

Source: Graphic.com.gh