Unemployed Graduate Basic School Teachers have cautioned the government to ensure “equality and equity” in all teacher recruitment exercises.
The group is of the view that the government has deployed a biased model in the recruitment of teachers for basic schools. The statement of the group said the
Biased model of recruitment of teachers into basic schools by the Ghana Education Service and the intentional sideline and discrimination against university graduates during the recruitment of teachers into basic schools. It said.
A statement issued by the Unemployed Graduate Basic School Teachers was signed by the Convener, Johnson Fiifi Baffoe Essilfie and Secretary for the group, Andy Confidence Avoka
They have called on the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education to change the current recruitment policy which permits the recruitment of only teachers from Colleges of Education.
“Revise the recruitment method where only teachers from the college of education are recruited at the disadvantage of teachers from the university who holds the same or even higher qualification.” was the suggestion to the two government educational institutions.
This call comes a few days after the government opened the portal for the recruitment of 2017-2023 CoE graduates only which dashed the hopes of the graduate trained teachers from the universities who studied education.
According to the group, the institution attended by a trained teacher should not serve as a limitation for his or her employment by the GES but rather one’s qualification should be the basis that should merit a job with the service.
They said the priority for employing teachers should be the teacher’s license and not the year a graduate completed his or her education.
The institution one attended should not be a barrier/limitation for not getting employed into the service. The qualification one possess should be the primary requirement for getting recruited into the Ghana Education Service as a teacher in the upcoming recruitment. If there be any priority, it should be for a licensed teacher and not a year group of college of education trainees in the upcoming recruitment : The group said
The trained teachers from the universities have not being enthused about what they called the unfair treatment meted out to them because they chose to go to the University and not the College of Education. They suggested that the government comes out with a recruitment policy that gives equal opportunity to all.
“A thorough and more vigorous process of recruitment which gives even playing grounds for all licensed teachers should be used during the upcoming and subsequent recruitment” and “a clear policy regarding recruitment of teachers into basic schools that covers all licensed teacher trainees from both the university and college of education should be made.”
The group pointed out that, since the University of Cape Coast is the examining body for the colleges, teachers from the university who studied the same programmes should be at par in terms of their quality and should both be seen as fit for purpose.
The statement further revealed that: “It is obvious that colleges of education were established mainly for training teachers to teach in pre-tertiary schools. It is also obvious again that, over the years, colleges of education have been an affiliate of the University of Cape Coast which is an education-oriented university to examine and award certificates. It is, therefore, in no doubt that, teachers that are churn from both the university and the colleges of education are at least of equal quality and should reflect during recruitment.
According to the group, university-trained teachers have been sidelined since 2013 and this trend has to be altered. The group added that in the past limited recruitment was meant for graduate teachers from the universities to teach in second cycle schools.
However, since the system changed, a huge number of members have been denied employment and a few of those who got employed had links or in some instances had to pay their way through ‘protocol’ (whom-you-know approach).
“This has made some unscrupulous persons extort huge sums of money in the promise of postings from most of our members.” the group added.
The group also said it is yet to experience the change that the ruling NPP government promised. They quoted portions of the NPP manifesto to buttress their position.
The group drew the attention of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) to its 2016 manifesto with the theme “agenda for change, creating a prosperous and equal opportunity for job” and emphasized that “it is in this spirit we ask that equality and equity should be served during the recruitment of teachers in basic school.”
The Graduate Basic School Teachers hope the government will take the necessary steps to deal with the anomaly regarding teacher recruitment.
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