The Teachers and Trainees Advocacy (TTA), has backed the payment of the trainee teachers’ allowance to trained teachers in the country despite calls to scrap it off.
There has been calls for the cancellation of the allowance, with some individuals and organizations such as the Africa Education Watch going on the campaign.
TTA however expressed worry over the calls to scrap the allowances amidst the perpetual hardships in the country, and as a matter of misplaced priority, the deplorable state of our Basic education in the country.
A statement issued by the association and co-signed by the Director of Publicity, Sao Bernard and the National Convener of TTA, Antwi Karikari Patrick, said, the ongoing debate to scrap the trainee teachers allowance poses a “risk and a danger to the welfare of the trainee teacher.”
“The leadership of TTA opines otherwise, and emphatically states that the allowance payment to trainee teachers is well justified and must continue unabated”
“This is the time that as a country, we need to fix our attention on why we need to figure out the cogent reasons the allowance was re-introduced without the mere fact that it is political promise from the incumbent government” part of the statement noted.
Highlighting the significance of the allowance in the trainee teacher’s pursuits, TTA indicated that the allowances spellbinds prospective tertiary students to choose the colleges of education ahead of other tertiary institutions.
Adding that the seminarian-type of living in the colleges of education is still observed unlike the traditional university, they noted also that the allowance makes graduates from the colleges duty-bound to accept postings wherever vacancy is available.
“As an Advocacy team, our position is that the allowances must continue to be paid to Trainee teachers irrespective of the degree certification and automatic postings there-after, because in the line of duty as teachers, they make their bed wherever they lay their head”
“We are making it abundantly clear and being fundamentally honest that the trainee allowance has come to stay and ought to be paid by the current and successive governments” they maintained.
Below I the full statement
