‘Govt determined to end issues of arrears payment’
The Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, has stated that the government is determined to bring to closure, unresolved issues with regard to the payment of arrears and other allowances of teachers.
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As a demonstration of that commitment, he announced that the government had released GHc4.5 million for the payment of teachers’ vehicle maintenance allowances and transfer grants.
Addressing the 21st National Best Teacher and First National Best School Awards in Tamale yesterday, Mr Amissah-Arthur said the ministries of Finance, Education, Employment and Labour Relations, the Controller and Accountant General’s Department, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Audit Service, were currently discussing the unresolved issues.
“Let me thank teachers and the union leaders for their patience and understanding over the period, and request them to continue to exercise restraint and work with all parties to resolve the outstanding issues,” the Vice-President said.
This year’s ceremony had the theme: “Empowering Teachers, Building Sustainable Societies.”
The National Best Teachers Awards ceremony saw a complete departure from the status quo in which an individual was adjudged the overall national best teacher for the year.
In all, 412 awardees including 52 individuals and 360 schools made up of kindergarten, primary and senior high schools from the 10 regions were honoured.
Untrained teachers
Mr Amissah-Arthur said that the government had instituted measures to train pupil teachers, under the Untrained Teachers Diploma in Basic Education (UTDBE) programme, as a means to empowering them.
Since the implementation of the programme, he said, about 400,000 untrained teachers had received professional training.
The Vice-President said since the implementation of the school computerisation project in 2012, 81,000 teachers in both basic and senior high schools (SHSs) had been trained in the use of ICT.
Secondary Education Improvement Project
On the scope of the Secondary Education Improvement Project (SEIP), Mr Amissah-Arthur said 125 low-performing SHSs had been selected and were receiving quality improvement with attention on Mathematics and Science to improve performance in those subjects.
Training programmes were also being organised for heads and assistants of the low-performing schools, while teachers of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Integrated Science, were being offered proficiency training to improve on their performance, he added.
In addition to the training being carried out under the SEIP, the Vice-President said the government had started the implementation of the last phase of the Science Resource Centre Project for 100 SHSs with the training of 250 science teachers and laboratory technicians.
Touching on the expansion of access to education, he said the government would continue to invest in infrastructure at all levels of education, adding that the programme to replace schools under trees with structures was on course.
While congratulating the awardees on their feet, he asked teachers to support the West African Examinations Council to stamp out examination malpractices, as well as the effort by the GES to stop the collection of unapproved fees.
In a speech read on her behalf, the sector minister, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, observed that education was the remedy for all development challenges facing countries, for which reason the government would continue to invest in the sector.
She explained that the theme for this year’s event was designed to acknowledge the enormous roles teachers had played over the years and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to ensure that teachers were well motivated.
Goodwill messages
The acting Director-General of the GES, Mr Jacob Kor, expressed appreciation to teachers for their loyal service and dedication to the provision of quality education to pupils and students.
“We are celebrating you today because of your hard work and excellent credentials and talents. You have taken it upon yourselves to go through thick and thin to guide our schoolchildren in a decisive and efficient manner,” he said.
Congratulating the awardees, the acting Director-General of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, Mr Alexander Mawusi Buadi, said much as teachers continued to take steps to increase effectiveness and efficiency, there was the need for the government and other stakeholders to provide critical inputs to enhance their delivery in the classroom.
