Government has assured trainee teachers across the country that their allowance for the first and second semesters of the current academic year will be paid.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, delivering the 2021, budget statement on behalf of the Minister of Finance, noted that the expected total sum, GH¢171 million, will be paid to allow Colleges of Education be freely accessible to all eligible students and train teachers to drive quality education provision.
“An amount of GH¢78,857,120 was disbursed to a total of 47,135 teacher trainees in all public Colleges of Education for the second semester of their 2019/2020 academic year. In 2021, an amount of GH¢171,241,500 will be paid for the first and second semesters of the 2020/2021 academic year,” he said.
It would be recalled that the first semester of 2019/2020 academic year was disrupted by the global pandemic COVID-19, and therefore government did not make any commitment to that effect.
Mr. Mensah Bonsu echoed that government in 2020, absorbed the examination registration fees for the 403,878 candidates from public junior high schools across the country, and similarly, this year, government will do same by absorbing the fees for the about 416,066 candidates that will be sitting for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
Touching on the second cycle sector, he indicated that a total of 539 projects out of 1,119 senior high schools’ infrastructural projects have been completed to accommodate the increased enrollment of free SHS students. In addition, government completed 28 community day SHS E-Blocks under the Secondary Education Improvement Programme (SEIP).
Therefore, government will focus also to increase access and improve quality of TVET education by expanding infrastructure through the construction of new institutions and upgrading of facilities in existing technical universities as well as technical and vocational institutes.
“In line with the commitment to ensure adequate logistics for effective administration of schools and educational directorates, government procured and distributed 840 pick-up trucks and 350 buses. In addition, 2,000 motorbikes were distributed to circuit supervisors to enhance monitoring in their line of duty,” he reiterated.
He notified that government was able to complete about 195 basic education projects in 2020, and will continue with the ongoing infrastructure projects at that level.
