Beginning 2022, the entry point for a teacher seeking employment with the Ghana Education Service (GES) in the country must be first degree, the GES has announced.

That is when the first cohort of graduates from the colleges of education pursuing the degree programme will pass out.

The Deputy Director-General in charge of Management Services, Mr Anthony Boateng, announced this when he briefed journalists on some major reforms being implemented by the management of education at a workshop for selected journalists at Larteh in the Akwapim North Municipality in the Eastern Region.

SEIP workshop

The workshop, which was on the Secondary Education Improvement Project [SEIP], brought together selected journalists from across the country to update them on the journey so far with the project.

Diploma holders

Mr Boateng, however, explained that those who were already in the system with the diploma certificates would remain at post and upgraded themselves.

“Surely, there will be some who basically might not want to upgrade themselves to be first degree holders. They will not be sacked. The opportunity will be there for them to gradually phase out in the service.

“What it means is that no new diploma holder will be employed and those already in with the diploma will be assisted to either upgrade or be phased out,” he said.

He explained that even though the GES had stopped the automatic recruitment of newly trained teachers, all those trained from the public colleges of education would be eventually absorbed.

Mr Boateng further explained that the policy on recruitment currently was based on demand and so GES recruited to fill vacant spaces.

Without permission

Speaking on teachers who upgraded themselves without the approval of the service, he said the original position of the GES was that since they went to the school without approval, “we will not upgrade them.”

“But upon some petitions, especially from the unions and other stakeholders, this position is being reviewed to look at what happens, since ultimately we want every entry point to be a first degree,” Mr Boateng told the journalists.

He hinted that “should we come to the point that we have to recognise them, we will consider the programme or course you have undertaken and its relevance to the work you do.”

Professionalism

Speaking on the role of the National Teaching Council (NTC), the Deputy-Director-General explained that its role basically was to ensure that teaching was now a recognised profession.

He explained that it was the responsibility of the NTC to come out with ethics and standards of the profession and that was why it was now involved in the issuance of licences through the Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination.

Additionally, the NTC was also tasked to ensure high standards for members of the teaching profession “and, therefore, they should have the capacity and authority to award and withdraw licences to persons that they deem not fit to teach.