The Deputy Minister of Education-designate, Dr Clement Abass Apaak, has assured Parliament that the teacher trainee allowance remains in place, with no plans to discontinue it.
Speaking during his vetting before the Appointments Committee on Tuesday, February 25 2025, Dr Apaak addressed concerns about the future of the allowance, stating:
“The teacher trainee allowance has not been scrapped. I have no reason to believe that it will be scrapped because the minister has not indicated any such plans.”
His remarks come amid ongoing discussions about the sustainability of the policy, which has sparked debate in recent years.
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Beyond the teacher trainee allowance, Dr Apaak responded to questions about broader issues in the education sector, including inadequate infrastructure, examination malpractices, and the decline of school sports.
On school infrastructure, he acknowledged that many schools still lack proper facilities, describing the situation as “unfit for the status and age of our nation.”
He attributed the problem to rapid population growth and the slow pace of expanding educational facilities.
He assured the committee that he would work closely with the substantive minister to complete stalled school projects and improve existing infrastructure.
Dr Apaak also spoke about widespread examination malpractices, which have raised concerns about the credibility of Ghana’s education system.
He called for a national discussion on how to strengthen the integrity of examinations and tackle challenges faced by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), including delays in releasing results.
He proposed that serialising examination questions, where students in the same room receive different versions of the same paper, could help prevent cheating.
“If students in the same exam room answer different questions on the same subject, it will be difficult for them to collude and cheat,” he said.
He also stressed the need to provide WAEC with enough resources to recruit and deploy its own invigilators instead of relying heavily on external supervisors.
