A member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) legal team, Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, says the cancellation of the teachers’ licensure examination does not imply a lack of qualification for teaching.
He asserted that teacher training schools cover a maximum of 48 courses, eliminating the necessity for a final exam to demonstrate their qualification.
Speaking on the Super Morning Show, he emphasized the need for the inclusion of qualifications, licensing, and the assurance of qualifications as integral components ;.of the training process.
“Usually the teacher training, they’ll tell you they are going to do practical. They will go and do sometimes six months out there, doing practicals before they will get their cert A. Nobody at the end of the day will say come and sit for an additional layer of examination before you get your cert A. That was what used to pertain,” he said.
According to him, one of the entry barriers to teacher training is the concern regarding allowances.
Mr. Tamakloe explained that, in the past, with fewer individuals opting for teacher training, it was more feasible to allocate a budget for providing allowances to the trainees.
He mentioned that the government plays a role in determining the number of individuals the teacher training institutions should take and the teacher training institutions have to adhere to that.
“At the beginning of the year, government will now have to sit down and say Atebubu teacher training college, you can’t take beyond 200 people because only 200 people can be given allowance. So don’t take beyond 200. Take only 200.”
Mr. Tamakloe added that, there will come a time where the country will face shortage of teachers, as a significant number of them have migrated abroad since the allowance has become an entry barrier.
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