Peter Ani Partey, the Executive Director of the Institute for Education Studies, has expressed concern regarding the potential mass departure of teachers from Ghana to the UK due to the UK government’s new recruitment policy. This policy is designed to attract teachers from African countries, specifically those with qualifications equivalent to British educators and a minimum of one year of teaching experience.
According to the National Teaching Council (NTC) of Ghana, approximately 10,000 teachers in Ghana meet the criteria to work abroad under this policy. The exodus of such a substantial number of teachers could have a profound impact on Ghana’s educational system, leading to a potential shortage of qualified educators within the country, ultimately affecting the quality of education.
Mr. Partey emphasized that Ghana has invested significantly in these teachers, including training allowances and various resources for their professional development. He argued that these investments should ideally yield returns by having these educators support the development of Ghana’s human capital. Thus, their departure could be seen as a loss of the return on investment.
Meanwhile, Ghana’s Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, announced that the government is contemplating offering transfer grants to incentivize teachers to work in underserved communities. This move aims to address teacher-student ratios. Dr. Adutwum stated that Ghana does not suffer from a teacher shortage and expressed the government’s commitment to deploying teachers where they are most needed to dispel any misconceptions about a shortage of educators. He noted that there is a pool of educators ready to be posted to teaching positions as needed.
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