Blame former President Kuffuor for Cancellation of Teacher Trainees Allowance – ASEPA

The debate on the cancellation of Teacher Trainees Allowance has shifted with former President John Agyekum Kuffuor being drawn into the argument by ASEPA.

The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) has accused the NPP for deceiving Ghanaians all this while about the teacher trainees’ allowance. 

The think-tank organization said the actual administration that should be blamed is the Kuffour led administration.

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ASEPA an anti-corruption and civil advocacy group has foiled attempts thang former President kuffour’s decision around the neck of Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang.

The NPP has vociferously chorused lies against the Mahama led administration when the actual decision was made and supervised by the New Patriotic Party under former President Kuffuor. 

ASEPA has indicated that the teacher trainees allowance was scheduled to be canceled for first-year teacher trainee students in 2009 which will later lead to the facing out the allowances for continuing students. 

The anti-corruption and civil advocacy group have therefore revealed that Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, the Education Minister under president Mahama had her hands tied as she was working with a government paper inherited from the NPP led administration which was under the leadership of former President John Agyekum Kuffuor. 

The cancellation of the teacher trainees allowance was the recommendation of the  Prof. Jophus Anamoah-Mensah Committee on Education Reforms.

ASEPA’s Full statement – Read ASEPA’s statement on the matter below:

1. In 2002 President John Agyekum Kuffuor Commissioned an Educational Reform Committee headed by the Former Vice-Chancellor of University of Education, Prof. Jophus Anamoah-Mensah.

The Committee made a number of recommendations which was duly accepted by the President including the popular four years SHS system.

In 2008 as part of the second phase of the implementation of the Jophus Anamoah-Mensah Committee Report, President Kuffuor issued a White Paper on Education Reforms.

As part of the reforms on Emoluments, the White paper observed that wages and in the case of trainee teachers allowances posed a huge burden and impediment in the training of more teachers and to reduce the Pupil-Teacher ratio in our public schools.

The White paper, therefore, made provisions for the total cancellation of the Teacher Trainee Allowance for first-year teacher trainee students in 2009 and the subsequent facing out of allowances for Continuing students.

The White Paper also made provisions for the Trainees who would be taken off the allowance to access students loans to facilitate their studies.

This White Paper, therefore, settles the debate on trainee allowance that the idea to replace teacher trainee allowance with students loan was never the decision of Prof.Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang but that of the White Paper issued by President Kufuor and the NPP on the Prof. Jophus Anamoah-Mensah Committee on Education Reforms.

That the Policy in itself was the only way more teachers could be trained to replace the ever-growing number of pupil teachers in our schools at the time.

Signed:

Mensah Thompson

Executive Director, ASEPA

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