There have been several promises of motivating teachers who accept to be posted in hard-to-reach areas or rural communities by the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education.
The management of the Ghana Education Service has made it clear in their code of conduct that teachers who accept to be posted in rural areas stand the chance of getting study leave with pay within the next two years of their service but this is the complete opposite of what is happening currently in the service. Some teachers have been in the rural areas for more than four to five years seeking study leave with pay but they are not getting it just because they don’t have the money to pay the district officers for the opportunity to be given to them. Their colleagues that work in town and had the opportunity to do other work rather even stand the chance of getting this study leave with pay in the next one or two years of their service because they can get money to pay the district officers
These rural teachers when they even try to run sandwich or distance courses to upgrade themselves, they are been threatened by their village headmasters and SISOs because the headmaster feels that those young teachers will upgrade themselves and become a threat to their position.
The president of the Republic of Ghana H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo last promised of building accommodations for rural teachers. If you are a teacher and sit in the village waiting for this kind of incentive from the government by the time you will come to town you will be a tenant in your student’s house.
Last year the Honourable Minister of Education Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum promised his outfit and the government will give some allowance to teachers in hard-to-reach areas. Teachers have waited for donkey months now and nothing is showing that such promise is going to materialize.
Recently the Registrar of the National Teaching Council also promise of organizing free workshops for teachers in rural areas which will attract them 10 continuous professional development (CPD) points to help them renew their licenses. Any teacher who refused to find ways and pay money to attend his or her workshop for his or her CPD points but rather wait for this so call rural teachers free workshop from NTC will have themselves to be blamed when the time comes for license renewal.
Promises of motivating teachers or providing teachers in rural areas with incentive are something that stakeholders have taken to only keep teachers happy small but all those promises is an illusion because it has been coming for years now.
This post is not in a way to discourage teachers from teaching in the villages but just an eye open to those teachers who remain in the village and motivate themselves with such dummy promises.
