Ablakwa:Trainee Teachers and Nurses allowances never restored- How Gov’t deceived Ghanaians

Before the decision to replace allowances with student loans and abolish the detrimental quota system; teacher trainees were receiving GH546.86 every month of the year (thus 12 months) following an increment by the Mills/Mahama government, an additional feeding grant of GHS1,120 per student for an academic year (GHS560 for each semester) paid to Principals, and the continuous payment of allowances for newly recruited teachers and nurses until they were formally added to the public sector payroll.

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The incontrovertible fact establishes that even after the replacement of allowances with student loans, the Mahama Administration continued to pay the Colleges of Education their feeding grants of GHS1,120 per student for every academic year until the NDC left office in January 2017.

The records show that this is not the arrangement that was restored as claimed by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government.

Teacher trainees now receive a paltry GHS200 and not GHS546.86 which pertained under the NDC. The government then pays GHS196 to the Colleges as a feeding grant.

Also, note that unlike in the past, these payments no longer cover every month of the year except the few months spent in school — normally a maximum of 8 months in a year. 2021 recorded 3 months spent in school.

Nursing trainees under Akufo-Addo/Bawumia receive GHS399 from a peak of GHS700 under Mills/Mahama. Again, this is for a few months and not the entire 12 months as was the case.

To RESTORE is to BRING BACK or RE-ESTABLISH what existed —that is not what happened, neither is that the case presently. Don’t fall for the deception.

Even with the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia inferior allowances regime, they are not committed to the very low bar they set for themselves.

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The meagre allowances are consistently in arrears with current arrears owed trainees amounting to as many as FOUR months.

Even more tragic is the litany of abandoned infrastructure projects across all 46 public Colleges of Education. The dreaded quota system is also back with PRINCOF asked by government to admit not more than 16,000 trainees for the next academic year.

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When the NDC abolished the quota system, enrolment shot up by some 63% with 18,911 first-year admissions for the 2016/17 academic year.

As for the current unprincipled convulsive U-turn which now acknowledges the well-reasoned and sincere policy position as canvassed by the Mahama Administration and all the vilification and vicious attacks we were subjected to, we shall continue to leave that to posterity. Deception and dishonesty may appear to be in the lead, however, the truth shall always overtake them and emerge unassailably victorious.