Mahama’s priority teacher training colleges a gamble

It is laudable that the administration of President John Dramani Mahama is seeking to scale up the training of teachers but he has settled on an option that may not be needed by the nation in the short to medium term. Without mincing words, his decision to prioritise the construction of “10 Teacher Training Colleges” is a gamble.

This is so because the decision would increase the number of teacher training institutions from 38 to 48 but would come at a cost of GHC62 million (2013 Budget statement) with no guarantee for improving annual turnout figures from the Colleges, especially in the next couple of years.

The objective, as indicated in the prequel to this article (see Friday March 8, 2013 edition of the Public Agenda) under the heading “The prioritisation of 200 new SHS: How apt?” is to subject the President’s priority projects (beginning with education) to needs-based analyses.

The appointments

President Mahama appointed Messrs Enoch Teye Mensah, Alban Bagbin and Cletus Avoka “to coordinate the implementation of Presidential priority projects relating to: the construction of 200 Senior High Schools (SHS), 10 Teacher Training Colleges and 1 Public University in the Eastern Region; the Development of ultra-modern Regional and Specialist Hospitals; and the development of new International and Regional Airports.” The trio would be operating from the former presidential seat, the Osu Castle, according to a government statement.

Appreciating the problem

The problem the nation faces today is that at the heart of the quality education is the teacher but there still exist high numbers of untrained teachers teaching in pre-schools (74%), primary schools (38%) and junior high schools (22%) nationwide, according to “The Civil Society Education Manifesto: Basic Education Policy Prognosis for 2013-2016.”   

The document highlights that the presence of untrained teachers in classrooms affects the quality of teaching, learning and learning outcomes. It has a direct bearing on the application of the right teaching and learning methods, curriculum and school management strategies for effective results. In as much as Ghana trains about 8,600 teachers each year from the 38 colleges of education, some 10,000 teachers leave the profession annually. This means that, the nation is only managing teacher deficits and not necessarily adding to the numbers of trained teachers. The teacher deficit which stood at 21,000 in 2009 keeps increasing due to attrition.

So the question is posed: would the 10 new colleges President Mahama proposes to build address the gaps? Also, what are the timelines for delivering the new infrastructure? How soon can these schools begin admissions? What levels of increment (nominal and percentage) of trained teachers are being targeted? 

The gamble

It is obvious that President Mahama understands the current state of teacher training and teacher deficit in the country but it is unclear whether he is exactly sure of what to do. Otherwise, there should be an appreciation of the fact that the removal of the cap government placed on admissions of existing Teacher Training Colleges (now Colleges of Education) would immediately almost double annual teacher training numbers from around 8600 to about 17000.

The capping of admissions for teacher colleges is a matter that is openly discussed whenever education stakeholders meet. The call to remove the cap is therefore something education sector workers, including Ministry of Education (MoE) officials are very much aware of.

It is also known that majority of, if not all, the 38 existing Colleges of Education (COEs) would have space to accommodate more students should government reverse the decision it took about a decade ago to cap admissions due to rising cost incurred on allowances of trainees.

Indeed, as far back as 2008, Mr. Bright Appiah, Chairman of the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC), argued that government must “as a matter of urgency, remove admission caps in teacher training colleges to encourage more people to train as teachers,” according to a Ghana News Agency (GNA) report of April 24, 2008.

Today, Mr Appiah holds the same view and in addition enjoys the support of one-time programmes officer of GNECC, Mr Kofi Asare. The latter argues considering the possible outcomes of removing the caps, the 10 new Colleges are not needed.

11,000 vrs 17,000

Since the new Colleges have not been tagged as specialised, it is reasonable to assume that they will have the same intake as the existing ones. If the 8600 teachers being trained annually were distributed among the 38 existing Colleges, the per capita share of each college would be 226 trainees. Thus, working with the assumption that the cap on admissions would remain even if the new schools were constructed, the 10 new Colleges would bring on stream 2,260 every year, putting the annual figure for all 48 Colleges at 10,848. This is less than the 17,000 figure which sector stakeholders are anticipating would be turned out by the 38 existing Colleges in the event that the caps are removed.

Proponents of the cap removal further argue that their call is even more valid today considering that trainees are soon expected to be migrated unto the Student Loan Trust system, meaning they will bear the cost of their allowances by paying back the loans.

On the other hand, one school of thought contends that the migration of trainees unto the Student Loan Trust would affect interest in the COEs. They cite that certificate diploma-holding teachers’ remuneration is relatively lower than graduate teachers, compelling many aspiring teachers to choose the path of graduate teachers and abandon the COEs. Therefore, the allowance, which is currently pegged around GHC400 per person per semester, is an incentive for attracting many more people into the COEs.

A counter argument, however, is that using trainee allowances to attract people to the teaching field is unsustainable. Instead, the general conditions of service for teachers should be improved. The Single Spine Salary Structure is pointed out as a step towards improving conditions of teachers, relative to other sectors.

Financing

For now though, it looks like the 10 new Colleges is a done deal following the allocation of funds for their takeoff.

In the 2013 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government, Mr Seth Tekper, Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, announced in paragraphs 1014 and 1015 that intended to spend a total amount of GHC1,504.9 million on various Priority Intervention Programmes comprising economic, social, infrastructural and administrative sector activities. He mentioned that GHC62.0 million had been allocated “to 10 colleges of education.”

Political expediency?

Now, the die is cast and the President would move to build the 10 new Colleges particularly because it is a political promise made to the electorate and captured on page 27 of the 2012 Manifesto of the National Democratic Congress.

President Mahama and his team pledged in their manifesto to: Establish at least 10 new Colleges of Education in the medium term to be located in areas not well served currently in anticipation of the increase in student numbers on account of our increased access to education programme.

Interestingly, the President did not decide to prioritise financing for two other pledges in the same document which could perhaps address the concern about the capping of admissions. These pledges are to: “Expand and upgrade the facilities in all Colleges of Education to befit their new status as tertiary institutions” and “Increase the admissions of teacher trainees in the existing Colleges of Education by over 30% from 9,000 to 12,000.”

Conclusion

On the matter of the prioritisation of 200 new Senior High Schools, President Mahama scored full marks but on this issue of 10 new Colleges of Education he is gambling unless he can reorganise his priority list.

Originally published in the Friday April 12, 2013 edition of Public Agenda.