The government of President John Dramani Mahama has declared its intention to cancel the payment of allowances to teacher trainees in the country, despite promising in its manifesto to retain the stipend and also ensure prompt payment.
In its 2024 manifesto for the general election, the then opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) pledged to alleviate the hardships faced by parents and students in public tertiary institutions by providing trainee allowances, student loans, and other diverse funding options for teacher and nursing trainees.
However, just one month in office, the Mahama administration has announced plans to cancel the allowance, causing disbelief among trainees who had voted for the NDC on the basis of this promise.
The Minister for Education, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, who announced the government’s intention, indicated that the Mahama administration rather intends to transition trainees into the student loan scheme.
He disclosed this when he met with the leadership of the Conference of Principals of Colleges of Education, Ghana (PRINCOF), in Accra last Thursday.
During the meeting, the principals used the platform to voice their challenges and explore strategies to enhance learning outcomes, improve the quality of education, and enhance their overall welfare.
This current position of government was the same rhetoric used to justify the cancellation of the allowances during President John Dramani Mahama’s first term, before its restoration by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government in 2017.
According to Mr Haruna Iddrisu, the student loan scheme will operate alongside the allowance system for a short period before the full transition takes place.
The minister explained that while the allowances would be maintained in the interim, the government intended to phase them out gradually.
He said an enhanced student loan scheme will allow students to cater for their own feeding and personal expenses.
“There is no way you should be feeding a student at the tertiary level. We can narrow feeding to basic and free senior high schools but at the tertiary level, students should be able to take care of themselves.
“In the interim, we will continue with the feeding allowances but we will transition to an enhanced student loan system,” Mr. Haruna Iddrisu reiterated.
In August 2024, President Mahama had promised to maintain the allowances should he be elected. Speaking during a media engagement to wrap up a four-day tour of the Upper East Region, the President criticised the Akufo-Addo government for the irregular payment of the allowances, stating that his government would ensure steady payment when elected.
