More than 60,000 teachers across Ghana have completed the three-day Teacher Promotion Aptitude Test, with the Ghana Education Service (GES) describing the nationwide exercise as generally smooth and incident-free.
The Deputy Education Minister, Dr Clement Abas Apaak, disclosed the figures after monitoring the examination at the Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School (PRESEC-Legon) in Accra on behalf of the Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu.
Free and fair exercise
In a statement following the monitoring exercise, Dr Apaak said he witnessed no incident at the PRESEC-Legon centre and had received reports indicating that the examination proceeded successfully at other centres across the country.
“The promotional exams were held across the country, with over 60,000 teachers completing the three-day exercise.
“I witnessed an incident-free exercise at the PRESEC-Legon centre, and reports also indicate that the exercise was generally successful across the country,” he told journalists.
Government’s commitment
He reaffirmed the government's commitment to creating opportunities for teachers and other education-sector staff to advance their careers, adding that eligible workers should not face unnecessary obstacles in progressing to higher professional ranks.
“President John Dramani Mahama’s administration and the Ministry of Education are committed to ensuring that all deserving staff are allowed to progress to higher ranks without any hindrance whatsoever,” he stated.
The GES has also described this year's promotion exercise as particularly significant, saying it marks an important step in implementing the policy to decouple professional ranks from office positions.
Meanwhile, the GES has explained that the policy was intended to expand career progression opportunities for teachers by removing the constraint of limited vacancies within the administrative structure.
Under the policy, teachers will have greater opportunities to attain higher professional ranks based on their qualifications, experience and competence, rather than the availability of corresponding administrative positions.
The GES said the intervention would result in a significant increase in the number of teachers attaining some of the highest professional ranks within the Service.
“This year's promotion exercise is particularly significant, as it marks a major step in the implementation of the policy to decouple ranks from office positions.
“This policy intervention is intended to broaden opportunities for the career progression of our staff and ensure that deserving teachers are not disadvantaged by the limited availability of positions within the administrative structure,” the statement said.
It said the policy would lead to a 1,500 per cent increase in the number of teachers attaining the rank of Director II, while the number advancing to Director I was expected to rise by 340 per cent.
It added that there would also be substantial increases in the number of teachers progressing through other professional ranks, including Principal Superintendent (PS), Assistant Director II (ADII), Assistant Director I (ADI) and Deputy Director (DD).
“It is worth emphasising that, as was the case last year, deliberate efforts are made to ensure that all deserving staff are allowed to progress to higher ranks without being constrained by the availability of vacancies.
“This is expected to have far-reaching implications for teacher morale and professional motivation,” the statement added.
The service said the changes were expected to address longstanding concerns about career advancement in the education sector, particularly among qualified and experienced teachers who had been unable to progress due to limited vacancies.
