Govt has expanded access to teacher education
President John Dramani Mahama says the government’s decision to scrap the teacher trainee allowance and instead replace it with the students’ loan scheme is intended to expand access to teacher education by as many Ghanaians as possible.
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According to him, the government had to take such a bold step because of what he described as the high cost implication associated with the payment of the allowances.
Speaking at the University of Education, Winneba, last Friday during his “Accounting to the people” tour, the President further explained that the government was compelled to scale down the student intake into the colleges of education to cut down on the cost involved in paying the allowances.
“The problem with this allowance was that apart from the huge cost implication for the national budget, it also compelled the government over the years to scale down the number of students entering the colleges of education through the imposition of what we call the quota system.”
Mixed reactions
There have been mixed reactions from the public to the withdrawal of the allowance by the government.
President Mahama said the allowances for training teachers were not scrapped as was being put out in the public sphere but were rather swapped for a better scheme.
“The government swapped the allowances that used to be paid to teacher trainees to give way to more eligible students who did not have admissions to the teacher training colleges,” the President said.
He said the policy was part of the government’s plans to expand access to quality education in the country, and gave the assurance to the authorities at UEW of an equal share of educational infrastructure.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Vice Chancellor of UEW, Professor Mawutor Avoke, expressed concern about the inadequate hostel facilities for students on the university campus.
He said although about 53,000 students had been enrolled by the university in different parts of the country, only 17 per cent had accommodation on campus.
Responding to the concern expressed by the university authorities, President Mahama pledged the support of the government to increase accommodation for students.