President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Thursday, said the government has employed over 67,000 teachers as part of its efforts to improve quality education under the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.
This, he said would address the need for more teachers to handle the large number of student intake under the Free SHS system and ensure quality instructional periods and outcomes.
The President who was delivering his fourth State of the Nation Address (SoNA), on the floor of Parliament in Accra, said as the first cohort of free SHS students prepared to sit for their West Africans Senior Certificate Examination (WASCE) the government wished them well and looked forward to an enhanced performance.
He said it was important to ensure the happiness and contentment of teachers to ensure a safe and secure teaching and learning environment for all children, and therefore the government had restored the teacher training allowances that were previously removed.
Again government has agreed to pay the tier-two pension funds of teachers, cleared the three year back lock of non-promotion of teachers, abandoned the three months’ pay policy it inherited for newly recruited teachers, and cleared 92 percent of the legacy arrears, he said.
President Akufo-Addo also mentioned the restoration of the book and research allowances that were cancelled, and granting teachers a professional allowance as a major boost towards teaching and learning.
Again the new promotion policy for teachers had also been well received by the beneficiaries, saying the Government was determined to restore dignity to the teaching profession, he said.
“We want the teachers to accept that they hold our destinies in their hands,” he said.
He said despite the continuous hostilities about the success of the free SHS policy, it had been widely accepted by the overwhelming majority of Ghanaians.
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