Mafi-Kutime KG learn under trees whiles Gov’t ‘WASTES’ 250 million annually on trainee allowance – Africa Education Watch
An Africa Education Watch tweet about Mafi-Kutime KG pupils learning under trees has received some interesting reactions from the public.
According to the education think-tank, government continues to spend GHC 250 million annually on teacher trainee allowances whiles the school in question continues under trees.
The Africa Education Watch post suggests channelling the huge resource into building of school blocks for such children would have been a morally and ethically better and alternative way of spending the resources being used to fund the payment of teacher trainees.
The Africa Education Watch tweet indicated that “This is Mafi-Kutime KG. Each year, GHC 250 m of the GEFund meant for building schools is rather used to feed teacher trainees who graduate to teach in this ‘tree-class’. This can build 1,000 KGs every year. Lets chose schools over food.”
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Whiles government spends this scarce financial resource on trainees, many basic schools owned by government in both the villages and cities cry for help, facelift and renovation to give them a befitting status worth training and education for the leaders of tomorrow.
The call by the Education & Social Development Research and Policy Advocacy CSO group Africa Education Watch which is working to promote accountability in pursuit of SDGs in West Africa seems to have resurrected a sharp debate whether the way to go with trainees is to give them loans or allowances now that they are tertiary students in degree awarding institutions.
The public reactions showed that some Ghanaians feel the funding of trainee allowance has lost its usefulness. The allowance doesn’t serve its purpose any more…one of the comments indicated.
For others the minimum level of education in Ghana with Free SHS is Senior High School, hence they called for the scrapping of the allowance so that Ghanaians who complete SHS and want to further their education can pay for it.
The current system if not engineered will lead to Free SHS beneficiaries going to Colleges of education and nursing and continue enjoying freebies whiles schools such as Mafi-Kutime KG remain under trees.
Others who reacted to the post held the view that the teacher and nursing training allowances were very needless in our current dispensation. They called on government to consider giving the student the same money as loans on which interest is paid.
Politics has influenced decisions on the trainee allowance which the current government promised to restore at a time the then NDC government wanted to replace it with student loans.
Today, no matter how difficult it may be for government to continue paying such funds, it would prefer to keep its election promise honoured than to stop paying the allowance.
Until we build a national consensus on matters affecting education and make efforts to solve the most pressing needs and erase politics from our education, such decisions would continue to be entertained by politicians to their political advantage.
As a nation, we need a leader to chart the cause that brings the best gains in the use of state resources and the administration of the nation and our education sector for that matter.
Every government has its priorities set and delivering it means making less funding available to other equally important projects. It always comes down to scarcity, opportunity cost and choice for leadership as well.
Mafi-Kutime KG learn under trees but the government of the day may not see it as a priority compared to the trainee allowances paid to potential voters whose satisfaction could influence their decision in any election year.
The seeming absence of a national policy on educational investment would have education related decisions left at the mercy of political choices and the manifesto promises of the government in power.
The learning under trees is not new mentality
A very loyal and committed supporter of the government in power would be quick to say, schools have been under trees since the days of Kwame Nkrumah and that learning under trees is not new. That is the sad mentality when constructive criticisms are put forth in our part of the world.
The Teacher Trainees Allowances was scrapped before. Why didn’t the government use it in building the school? This is a response to the post.
Ethically, the choice by government to pay trainee allowance may not be wrong or right depending on the lens with which it is viewed.
Although the call by Africa Education Watch is spot on, government would not take its eyes off the paying off trainee allowances soon. Whiles the post by Africa Education Watch is to call for an urgent response to the plight of the school, not everyone will deem its call fit for purpose.
Source: Wisdom Hammond | Leadership Expert, Educationist and Freelancer
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