Mr Edward Gbetodeme, the Keta Municipal Director of the Education, has suggested the establishment of private teacher training colleges to solve the persistent shortfall in teachers, especially in the rural areas.
He was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview during the graduation of 50 Community Education Teaching Assistants (CETA) recruited under the National Youth Employment Programme in the Keta Municipal Area.
Mr Gbetodeme said the variant in the health sector, where private institution were authorized to train nurses, should be replicated in the education sector.
He said even now there were many private tertiary institutions doing just as well as the old public ones and that all that needed to be done was the provision of strict guidelines for them.
Mr Gbetodeme said private teacher training colleges could be taken up by the churches many of which were already into providing educational opportunities at various levels.
He said the huge teacher deficit was responsible for the poor performance at the basic schools.
Mr Gbetodeme put the teacher shortfall in the Keta Municipal Area at 450 and that logistical constraints were responsible for the inability of colleges to take many more qualified students.