Solving the Problem of Inadequate and Unfair Distribution of Trained Teachers

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There was this car sticker in Ghana, which read: IF YOU CAN READ THIS THANK A TEACHER. Thank God I am a teacher

Undoubtedly, education is the biggest enterprise in any civilized society. Teachers play an important role in this enterprise. Their training, distribution and maintenance as professionals anywhere must be given serious attention.

It is therefore disturbing to read from the media in Ghana recently that ? an intractable problem of inadequate and unfair distribution of trained teachers, deteriorating education infrastructure and poor working conditions among others, has left many public schools in both rural and urban communities without the required number of teachers.?(Public Agenda, May 2006, Accra-Ghana) The report continues, ?But with Ghana?s Pupil-Teacher Ratios (PTR) widening to as high as 24 pupils to a teacher, stakeholders fear the country?s already poor educational standards could worsen.? And that, ?beyond the inadequate number of teachers is the problem of teacher deployment across the country, since many teachers refuse posting to deprived communities.? How sad! How could this situation be allowed to continue in our present day Ghana?

I remember when I first graduated as a teacher in Ghana from College in the early 70s, I was posted to a rural/deprived area in the Ahafo-Ano District of the Ashanti Region against my choice and will. Yet for the love of my country I went to teach in that area. I made my services as a teacher available to that deprived community and the people there enjoyed me as a teacher and I also enjoyed them as a people! Though my love for continuous education saw me out of the rural area in the mid-70s, I still cherish a lot of memories from there as I go through life in Canada. I am teaching in Toronto inner-city school where I am serving as a role model to many immigrant Ghanaian students here. That?s another story. Isn?t it? I rest that for now.

Collaboration-Ensuring Effective Beginning for the Teacher: As an educator and former teacher-trainer in Ghana I begin on the note of professional attachment for teachers in training. There is the need for a ?collaborative partnership? between the Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs), schools and the community to improve efficiency and effectiveness of professional experiences and attitudes that the beginning teacher must acquire to become an effective teacher. The District Assemblies of most deprived areas must be assisted to contract to-be teachers for training and such trained teachers must be made to return to work in those districts. I view the above suggestion as a contribution to the needed change to improve upon the effectiveness of teacher education in Ghana and solving the problem of unfair distribution of teachers, I call for improvement in the professional attachment already in place. This is a contribution to creating effective teachers for Ghana?s classrooms through the collaborative efforts of the TTCs, schools (where practice teaching takes place) and the community to provide the beginning teacher with the needed professional environment, knowledge and supervision during field teaching in schools. I draw inspiration from some studies on Professional Development Schools (PDS) in North America, which seek among others to bring together, many in partnership (universities, schools and educators) and anticipate their interaction with each other to bring about desirable goals for teaching and learning. One such study was by McCarthey and Peterson (1993), which spoke to the interactions of component in the context affecting teaching. However I limit my call to collaboration rather than partnership since in the case of Ghana a call for PDS as exist in North America, at this time of the country?s educational reform program would be too ambitious.

Basic Education and Teacher Development: The government of Ghana announced free and compulsory basic education for all school-age children by the year 2005. The implementation of this free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (fCUBE) program requires the services of a large number of well qualified teachers in the shortest possible time. According to the policy Document on Basic Education Sector Improvement Program issued by the Ministry of Education in Ghana, ?the teachers should be well-versed in teaching, particularly in primary methodology. Teachers should be developed to fulfill the desired roles in the fCUBE program.?

The percentage of teachers that go abroad for further studies and then do not return to Ghana is phenomenal. Perhaps the pay structures and lack of job prestige have something to do with it. The neglect of establishing attractive conditions for teachers and the frustration teachers face in doing their work effectively in the classroom are some of the reasons, which may drive some teachers away to other countries as many other professionals do in Ghana. Teachers therefore become part of the brain-drain syndrome in our motherland. Teachers who study abroad on Ghana government scholar have the moral obligation to return home and serve, at least, the period of their bond. The question still remains that could the return of such teachers with advance qualifications from abroad solve the problem of inadequate and poor teacher-students ratio in deprived areas if education infrastructure and working conditions are not improved?

Basic education is the foundation for higher education, and if the foundation is weak the products from high schools, colleges and universities become ?unproductive? in meeting the national needs for which they have been ?trained.? The disproportionate teacher distribution in Ghana, especially at the elementary level is a serious threat to the future of children in the deprived areas. This unfortunate situation undermines the implementation of the free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (fCUBE) program in the country.

Recruitment of Trained Teachers: In Canada School Boards are established to recruit and maintain teachers in schools under their jurisdiction with funding from the Provincial government. Ghana has the District Education Offices but recruitment and distribution of teachers from TTCs is the primary responsibility of the National Teacher Training Council (NTTC) under the Ministry of Education. The lobbying of wives and children of some ?big men? who train as teachers at the NTTC to be placed in the cities or developed communities at the end of their professional training is unfair to schools in the rural areas. Reports also have it that some teachers are being unpatriotic by not accepting postings to deprived areas. More worrying is the news that tribal conflicts and assault on teachers by community members are some of the disincentives for teachers working in the rural areas. Such an unfortunate trend has already prompted the formation of the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) to help reverse the trend.

Suggestion:

The Ghana government must be lauded on its efforts to abolish fees for basic education and the increase in enrolment at that level. However, to ensure quality education for all children the government must provide better incentives to attract teachers to deprived communities.

Above all, there should be effective collaboration between the District Assemblies, District Education Offices, Town Councils and schools of deprived communities in recruiting and training teachers for such areas.