I will cancel licensure exams for teachers - Mahama

Former President John Mahama has stated that his government will abolish the licensure examination for teachers if he is elected as President in the 2020 polls.

“I will cancel licensure exams for teachers,” he said, explaining that what was needed was an improvement in the quality of teaching and examinations at the Colleges of Education.

In a Facebook Live interaction on Monday, Mr Mahama said Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) will be free at every level for Ghanaians.

He said a National Democratic Congress (NDC) government under his leadership would rescale the skills training under TVET so that beneficiaries could create their own jobs to employ others.

Reiterating his position to review the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy, Mr Mahama explained that the review he had been talking about meant improving the current system but not to abolish it.

He said an NDC government would abolish the double-track system and help increase the contact hours between students and teachers by fast-tracking the completion of all abandoned educational structures so that the students can be spread out.

Mr Mahama said although the free SHS policy was good, its implementation was bad, citing for instance that although it was supposed to be free, parents were engaging private teachers for their wards at extra cost.

“Do not forget that it was under the NDC regime that the shift system was abolished. The party has a track record of doing things that others have not been able to do,” he stated.

He said instead of helping to improve contact hours between students and teachers, the government had purchased past questions to help students revise and prepare for their examinations.

He wondered what the students would be revising if they had not already been taught.

Law School

The NDC flagbearer said he did not subscribe to the limitation of entry into the Ghana School of Law but said the value of a professional lawyer would be judged by the number of clients he or she would be handling.

On the decision to abolish the Nursing and Teaching Allowances, Mr Mahama said it was detected that the payment of allowances was limiting the number of admissions into those institutions of learning.

He explained that when the trainee allowances were abolished, admissions into both Nursing Colleges and Colleges of Education increased, adding that with the reinstatement of the allowances, admissions had been reduced.

Currently, he said, the payment of allowances was in arrears.

In abolishing the allowances, he said, the NDC government was working out a policy to offer the students loans through the Student Loans Trust, part of which would have served as monthly stipends.