Teacher, nursing trainees hit jackpot as govt settles allowance arrears

The government has cleared all teacher and nursing trainee allowances from January to June this year, with an assurance to make payments monthly from now.

The Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, who disclosed this during his presentation of the Mid-year Budget Review in Parliament last Thursday, said that from this month, all nursing and teacher trainees would receive their allowances promptly.

The announcement comes on the heels of recent celebratory gigs on campuses of teacher trainee and nursing trainee institutions across the country, as SMS alerts of receipt of allowances trigger great excitement.

As of the moment, Dr Forson said, payment of GH¢191.7 million had been made to settle outstanding teacher training allowances, and a further GH¢462.6 million had been paid as nursing training allowances.

Further payments

Furthermore, the minister disclosed that GH¢300 million had been paid towards the No Fee Stress Policy that cushions fresh tertiary students with payment of their admission and academic fees.

Dr Forson said GH¢72.8 million in Capitation Grant had also been paid by the government.

Further, he said, GH¢895 million had been disbursed to the School Feeding Programme, while the Basic Education Certificate Examination registration fee of GH¢122.8 million had also been settled.

The Finance Minister listed the payments as proof of the government’s spending in the year, justifying its position that relative stability, as witnessed in the declining inflation rate, for instance, had its roots in prudent and better management of the economy.

Stable economy

Indeed, government spokespersons have mentioned the stability of the local currency, the cedi, against the dollar and other major trading currencies as a major indicator of a resurgent economy and better handling of national resources.

At the inter-bank level, the cedi has largely stabilised, trading between GH¢10.20 and GH¢10.5 for more than a month since the currency hit a rising trajectory in March 2025.

Dr Forson said an amount of GH¢21 million had also been paid for the National Apprenticeship Programme.

He paid tribute to former President Professor John Evans Atta Mills, whose unfortunate demise occurred exactly 13 years on the day of the Budget Review presentation.

The review, the minister said, was more than a fiscal update.

“It is an account of what we inherited and the positive results of our stewardship in the last 198 days,” he said, insisting also that the state of the economy the current administration inherited was worse than initially anticipated.

“Mr Speaker, following his re-election with an overwhelming mandate, President John Dramani Mahama inherited an economy in deep distress, far worse than we had imagined,” Dr Forson said.