Wa teachers stranded after exam materials delay

• Posted on September 10, 2018
• by Ellsamwise King
• Comment

Hundreds of newly trained teachers who turned up for the Teacher licensure exams today, Monday, at the Nusrat Jahan Ahamadiya College of Education at Wa in the Upper West Region, were left stranded due to the late arrival of exam materials.

Checks at the school indicated that the exam was scheduled to commence at 9:00 am, but had to be delayed until  2:00 pm.

The situation almost created a scene at the school, compelling authorities to invite twelve uniformed police personnel to calm the teachers.

The Principal of the school, Hajia Ismail Asmaw, at a short meeting with the teachers said they received the exams materials in the morning, but they were asked to wait until 2:00pm because another college that is supposed to conduct the same exams in Tumu was yet to receive the materials.

“As I speak, there is only one vehicle carrying the exam materials to all the schools in this region. They are on their way to Tumu. Hopefully, by 2:00pm they would have reached for us to start the exams concurrently.”

Some of the newly trained teachers who spoke to the media were frustrated over the turn of events.

Mohammed Yussif, one of the new teachers said “we are virtually confused about this whole thing because we came here as early as 6:00 am, but it’s past 11:00 am and we still don’t know what’s going on”.

He accused the College of charging each teacher Ghc10 for the exams although they’ve already paid registration fee for the exams.

“We paid for this exams; only to come here and we are asked to cough out another 10 Ghana Cedis before they will allow us to write”.

Authorities of the school however declined to comment on the extra charges.

Over 1,012 newly trained teachers are expected to write the exams at the Nusrat Jahan Ahamadiya College of Education.

There were similar reports of delays in some colleges in the Volta, Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions.

The examination applies to all teachers who hold the Diploma in Basic Education (DBE), Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) or a post-graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) who want to be employed by the Ghana Education Service.

The National Teaching Council is to oversee the exam in accordance with the Education Act, 2008 (Act 778).

There has however been opposition from some newly trained teachers who have argued that it is being rushed without adequate preparation.

Despite the fierce opposition the teacher licensure exam has received, the NTC has reported a high number of applicants.

Though majority of the newly trained teachers voiced their displeasure with some even embarking on demonstrations, the council said over 13,700 of the expected 20,000 trainees have registered.

NDC flagbearer hopeful sues NTC over exams

A lawyer and flagbearer aspirant of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Elikplim Agbemava, a few days ago filed an interim injunction at the Supreme Court to stop the teacher licensure exams from happening.

He is praying the court to direct the National Teaching Council “to stop, cease or halt the ongoing registration and intended examination of only newly qualified teachers pursuant to the Guidelines and procedures for the Licensure Examination until the final determination of this suit.”

Mr. Agbemava also insists that based on Article 190 (1) (a) and 3 of the Constitution, “Parliament lacked the power to create new public institutions that is, the National Teaching Council, National Inspectorate Board and the National Council for Curriculum Assessment to manage Ghana’s educational system.”