Govt Cannot Recruit All Trained Teachers – A Dangerous Contradiction That Undermines Nation Building.
By Daniel Fenyi
The Minister of Education’s statement yesterday that government cannot recruit all trained teachers must trigger a thoughtful national dialogue on nation building, the role of specialised training institutions, and the future of Ghana’s educational system.
In any progressive nation striving for sustainable development, critical sectors such as education, security and health serve as the backbone of society. To maintain high standards, there are established specialized training institutions specifically designed to meet human resource demands.
In the security sector, agencies like the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana National Fire Service, and the Ghana Armed Forces recruit and train personnel with the clear expectation that their specialised skills will be directly utilised to serve the state. Once individuals complete their rigorous training and pass out from security training depots, they are immediately absorbed into active service.
Imagine telling a newly trained soldier, police officer or special forces operative trained using state resources that the government cannot absorb them and that they must instead seek employment with private security agencies.
Such a scenario is unimaginable in the security sector because their deployment is an inherent part of national safety design. So should the education sector be.
*Colleges of Education Have a Singular Mandate*
In the Education Sector, Colleges of Education are expressly established to train professional teachers. Every student admitted into these colleges undergoes rigorous training with the singular goal of contributing to the nation’s classrooms upon graduation.
Because of this, the state even invests in their training by paying allowances to cushion teacher trainees, with the clear mindset that upon completion, they will return to make a lasting impact in public classrooms.
Indirectly telling these professionals to go and seek employment elsewhere in the private sector under the guise of ‘government cannot recruit all’ contradicts the very purpose of their specialized training and state investment.
This contradiction was brought into sharp focus during a recent demonstration. While standing at the gate of the Ministry of Finance’s new building, I posed a question to a security personnel on duty: “If upon passing out from the Ghana Police Training School, you had been told the government could not recruit you, would you be standing here serving as security personnel?”
The silence that followed spoke volumes, though a female officer noted that the government might feel handicapped.
However, claiming a government is handicapped holds little weight when stark contradictions exist.
60,000 to 90,000 Teachers Needed, Yet No Room?
Statistical reports from Civil Society Organisations indicate that tens of thousands of classrooms across the country remain without teachers.
The Minister of Education himself, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, not long ago stated that Ghana requires 60,000 to 90,000 additional teachers to properly staff our schools.
To say there is no room for trained teachers while classrooms remain underserved is a profound policy disconnect.
Education remains the greatest equalizer and the bedrock of national transformation. By prioritizing the deployment of our trained teachers, we secure not only their livelihoods but the intellectual future of Ghana.
I’m SBA and I’ll continue to do more, with determination!
