GES Recalls 4,000 Retirees

FOUR thousand retired teachers are to be re-engaged this year to make up the number of teachers required in public basic schools following the introduction of the Capitation Grant and its attendant increase in pupil enrolment.

The engagement of the teachers has been made possible by a World Bank grant of 11 million dollars, said Michael Nsowah, acting Director-General of the Ghana Education Service.

Speaking at a workshop here on Tuesday, he said, the government would use part of the grant to construct 450 classrooms nationwide to accommodate the high number of pupils.

Mr Nsowah said the allocation of the classroom blocks and teachers on regional basis would depend on the needs of the schools, considering the peculiar problems of the districts.

The GES has already initiated action to seek authorization from the Ministry of Finance to recruit the retired teachers, data collated from the districts had been submitted to the World Bank.

Mr Nsowah said that under the GES study leave with pay policy, 3,000 professional teachers nationwide would be granted approval to pursue various courses in tertiary institutions next academic year which begins in August.

He said 8,311 teachers applied for the study leave and selection was based on the number of qualified applicants submitted by the various regions.

Mr Nsowah, however, explained that 60 per cent of the quota allocation would be restricted to applicants teaching in priority subject areas such as Mathematics, English Language, Science, Ghanaian Languages, Vocational/Technical, Primary Education, Agricultural Science and French.

He said that about ў47 billion would be spent this year as salaries for the beneficiaries of the study leave. ?Teachers whose courses are not relevant to teaching will not be considered,? he said.

He said that the quota system was not meant to discriminate but to ensure that those who qualified for the award of study leave were selected according to the laid-down guidelines.

Mr Nsowah said as from the next academic year, GES will strictly enforce the policy on bonding on teachers to ensure that after completion of their course, they go back to the classroom.

?Бlthough the bond system existed over the years, it was not judiciously used. Now, teachers who breach it, would pay a penalty of ў30 million,? he said.

The study leave quota allocation on regional basis is as follows: Ashanti 569 out of 1603 applicants, Eastern 400 out of 1128; Volta 463 out of 1304; Central 406 out of 1143; and Western 198 out of 557 applicants. The rest are Brong-Ahafo 151 out of 426; Upper East 143 out of 403 and Upper West 119 out of 335.