–GES urged to support teachers toward compliance.
The National Teaching Council (NTC) has cautioned that some 296,000 continuous teachers at the pre-tertiary level risk losing their registration and license to practice as professional teachers as some 100,000 are yet to accrue a single point.
According to NTC, considering the end of next year’s deadline for practising teachers before the implementation of the new licensing law and the requirement for teachers to be licensed 15 days before the expiry deadline, only 4,000 teachers are potentially able to meet the deadline.
The NTC emphasised that since the implementation of teacher registration and licensing, and the introduction of the point-based teacher Continuous Professional Development (CPD) scheme to help practising teachers accrue points to meet the prerequisite mark in October 2020, a whopping 100,000 teachers are yet to gain a single point.
Out of the over 300,000 teachers in the sector, only 4,000 are potentially able to meet the minimum requirement by end of 2024 while some 100,000 are yet to accrue a single CPD since their registration numbers were issued to them almost two years on.
The NTC, in a statement signed by its Registrar, Christian Addai-Poku, mentioned that: “Data available to the council indicates that over 100,000 of your staff have not accrued a single CDP since their registration numbers were issued from October 2020 to date. Presently, only 4,000 out of over 300,000 teachers have the potential to meet minimum CPD points,”
Expressing concern about the disturbing low point build-up for the majority of teachers, the NTC has called on the Ghana Education Service (GES), the employer, to strategise how to support staff work toward compliance.
Per the Education Regulatory Bodies Act 2020 (Acts 1023, 67), a person shall not practise as a teacher unless the person is registered as a teacher in accordance with this Act. Again, Section 79 of the same Act stipulates that a person shall not knowingly or negligently employ a person as a teacher in an institution unless the teacher is registered under this Act.’ Meanwhile, teachers are expected to renew their registration within fifteen days before the specified expiry date.
“The trend of your employees’ compliance to the prescription of the law is worrisome and your immediate intervention is necessary to forestall us coming to the brink of legal dilemma. It is important NTC enforces the law, but it is equally important that our schools have professionally qualified teachers,” NTC tells GES.
