A section of teacher trainees in the country has abandoned the classroom in protest against the decision by the government to scrap allowances for teacher trainees.
The government has explained, among other reasons, that it has scrapped the allowances to provide the opportunity for the heads of colleges of education to admit more students.
The Minister of Education, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, is quoted to have justified the scrapping of the allowances for teacher trainees, stating that there is no tertiary student in the country who is given the allowance.
Yesterday, members of the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo sector of the Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana (TTAG) began an indefinite strike to register their displeasure at the scrapping of their allowances.
They vowed not to resume lectures until the government rescinded the decision to scrap the allowances.
The students have, in various statements, decried the situation where the Ministry of Education has advised the teacher trainees to opt for student loans, saying, “We do not want the loan scheme because it can never solve the problem of teacher trainees and the general public.”
They have also stated that the increase in enrolment as a result of the scrapping of the allowances has created challenges for accommodation and feeding for the students.
The ‘war’ drums being beaten by the students signal very trying times ahead for the managers of our educational systems, particularly at this time when efforts are being made to improve teaching and learning opportunities for all students.
The Daily Graphic calls on the Ministry of Education to step up the discussion on the issue of allowances for teacher trainees with the view to securing their buy-in into the decision to scrap the allowances.
All that we ask for is that the alternative should not make the condition of teacher trainees worse, as the trainees seem to be opposed to the decision because of the fear that the scrapping of the allowances will create more hardships for them.
The government has, meanwhile, assured them that it will look into the issue of guarantors and we urge the government to live up to its promise to the trainees to address all the challenges militating against teacher education.
The government plans to expand the frontiers of education in the country, hence its decision to build 200 community senior high schools, 10 colleges of education and a public university in the Eastern Region.
These laudable initiatives can only see the light of day if there are qualified and dedicated teachers and faculty to teach the students.
At whatever level and whatever name, the person who leads the pedagogic methods is a teacher who holds the future of any generation that wants to make progress.
It is for this reason that the Daily Graphic admonishes the trainee teachers to call off their strike and continue to dialogue with the government to find a mutually acceptable way of resolving the impasse.
