Rural teachers get 20% allowance
The proposed 20 per cent allowance for teachers in rural and deprived areas will be implemented by the government this year, the Minister of Education, Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, told Parliament Wednesday.
Answering questions on the education sector, Mrs Mould-Iddrisu said currently, the ministry was holding discussions with the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning to identify funding sources for the implementation of the incentive package.
The MP for Agona East, Mr John Agyabeng, had asked the minister what the ministry was doing to improve incentives for teachers to promote and enhance overall efficiency in the education sector.
Mrs Mould-Iddrisu said, “The ministry is putting measures in place to construct additional teachers’ accommodation in rural areas and implement the 20 per cent allowance for teachers in these areas”.
According to the minister, the ministry was also formulating a teacher’s housing policy to help teachers acquire housing units, while a vehicle acquisition policy was almost complete to facilitate the acquisition of motorbike and cars, especially for those in rural areas.
Answering another question, the minister told the House that the ministry had an elaborate plan to provide facilities in senior high schools to accommodate the fourth year group.
She explained that as the first phase of the programme to meet these requirements, contracts had been awarded for the construction of classroom blocks for 214 schools.
The Member of Parliament for Asante Akim North, Mr Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi, had also asked the minister about efforts being made to accommodate the fourth year group of senior high schools.
Additionally, Mrs Mould-Iddrisu said 137 senior high schools would benefit from quick-build structures, and that arrangements had been made to contract the Ghana Armed Forces to provide six-unit classroom blocks in 21 senior high schools.
According to the minister, the ministry had also awarded contracts for the construction of 55 two-storey dormitory blocks as the first phase of the provision of dormitory blocks.
In another question, the MP for Agona East, Mr John Agyabeng, wanted to know about the status of the ministry’s efforts towards the removal of schools under trees in the country.
Answering the question, Mrs Mould-Iddrisu stated that the ministry had identified 5,000 schools which were being run under trees throughout the country.
She explained that in all, a total of 1,305 schools under trees projects had been awarded and these projects funded mainly from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) and HIPC, and were at various levels of completion.
In a follow-up question, the MP for Okaikoi South, Nana Akomea, wanted to ascertain from the minister whether it was true that senior high schools in the Sunyani Municipality had been closed down as a result of the forthcoming national delegates’ congress of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Replying, Mrs Mould-Iddrisu stated that she was not aware of the situation, and gave the assurance that the ministry would investigate the veracity or otherwise of the information.
Source Graphic Ghana
Category: Education
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