Students
of Bagabaga College of Education in Tamale welcomed President John Dramani
Mahama to the college’s 70th Anniversary with a call for restoration of trainee
teacher allowances. As the President mounted the podium to deliver his key note
address, they cried loud, “Bring back our allowances: Mr. President we are
dying.” In an exclusive interview, they explained that governments scrap of
trainee teacher allowances was ill-informed, hence the need for President John
Dramani Mahama to reconsider the decision. According to them, the allowances
were used as supplementary income to finance their education. They further
argued that government’s decision rendered teacher training colleges
unattractive to students who desired to join the fraternity. In what appeared
to be a direct response to their plea, President John Dramani Mahama in his
wisdom remarked, said government will continue to do what it is to provide for
the welfare of teachers. Meanwhile, the Dean of the Faculty of
Agribusiness and Communication Studies at the University for Development
Studies (UDS), Prof. Amin Alhassan at a recently held Northern Regional
Education Sector Annual Review (RESAR) for 2013 commended government for
scrapping the teacher trainee allowance system in the country. According to
him, the abolishment would bring to bear, people who are dedicated to the
teaching profession since many of the people who passed through teacher
training institutions went there because of the allowances and not their
dedication to the profession. Prof. Amin justifies his point by saying that
that the poor performance in education in recent times is as a result of
teacher absenteeism and lack of dedication by the current crop of teachers.
Source:Citifmonline.com
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