The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has revealed plans to transition teacher trainee allowances into an enhanced student loan scheme to allow students to cater for their own feeding and personal expenses.
In his explanation, the minister emphasized that while allowances would be maintained temporarily, the government plans to phase out the allowance system gradually.
“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,” he stated.
The minister made these comments during a meeting with the leadership of the Conference of Principals of Colleges of Education, Ghana (PRINCOF) in Accra last Thursday.
The team was led by Professor Samuel Awinkene Atintono, the President of PRINCOF. The meeting provided a platform for the principals to voice their challenges and explore strategies to improve learning outcomes, education quality, and overall welfare.
Iddrisu confirmed that the new student loan scheme would run parallel with the allowances initially, offering students a choice before the full transition.
“The loan scheme will run parallel with the allowances initially, but we will eventually adopt the standard practice in all tertiary institutions, where students rely on loans instead of direct allowances,” he explained.
The minister also acknowledged the significant infrastructural and logistical challenges faced by colleges of education. He noted that while there are budgetary constraints, the government remains committed to improving conditions. “We have to share resources across all levels of education, from preschool to tertiary. But we recognise that colleges of education are still in their nascent stages and require more support,” Iddrisu stated.
Additionally, Iddrisu expressed appreciation to the principals for maintaining industrial peace, particularly regarding concerns about the migration of teaching staff and parity of salaries at analogous levels. He also acknowledged gaps in the ongoing migration process for teaching staff, assuring the principals that the ministry is committed to addressing the outstanding concerns.
Professor Atintono raised concerns about stalled infrastructure projects at the colleges of education, citing numerous Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) projects that have remained unfinished for over a decade.
He stressed the urgent need for additional hostel facilities, science and ICT laboratories, and improvements to classrooms to accommodate the growing student population. Atintono further urged the government to conduct an infrastructure audit and prioritize completing abandoned projects before initiating new ones
