The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has announced plans to transition teacher trainee allowances into an enhanced student loan scheme to allow students to cater for their own feeding and personal expenses.

The minister explained that while the allowances would be maintained in the interim, the government intended to gradually phase the allowance system out.

“There is no way you should be feeding a student at the tertiary level.

We can narrow feeding to basic and free senior high schools but at the tertiary level, students should be able to take care of themselves.

In the interim, we will continue with the feeding allowances but we will transition to an enhanced student loan system,” he said.

The minister said this when he met with the leadership of the Conference of Principals of Colleges of Education, Ghana (PRINCOF) in Accra last Thursday.

The team was led by the President of the PRINCOF, Professor Samuel Awinkene Atintono.

The meeting provided the platform for the principals to voice their challenges and explore strategies to enhance learning outcomes, improve the quality of education, and enhance their overall welfare.

Mr Iddrisu stated that the student loan scheme would operate alongside the allowance system for a short period to give students the option to choose before the full transition took place.

“The loan scheme will run parallel with the allowances initially, but we will eventually adopt the standard practice in all tertiary institutions, where students rely on loans instead of direct allowances,” he said. 

Infrastructure, logistics deficit

The minister also acknowledged the major infrastructural and logistical challenges facing colleges of education.

Haruna Iddrisu (middle), Minister of Education, with the leadership of the Conference of  Principals of Colleges of Education

He stated that while budgetary constraints existed, the government was committed to improving conditions.

“We have to share resources across all levels of education, from preschool to tertiary. But we recognise that colleges of education are still in their nascent stages, and require more support,” he said.

The minister also expressed appreciation to the principals for maintaining industrial peace, particularly in relation to concerns about the migration of teaching staff and the parity of salaries at analogous levels.

Additionally, he acknowledged gaps in the ongoing migration process for teaching staff, and assured them of the ministry’s commitment to address outstanding concerns.

Stalled projects

Prof. Atintono raised concerns about stalled infrastructure projects in colleges of education, stating that many Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) projects, some of them initiated over a decade ago, were still uncompleted.

He emphasised the urgent need for additional hostel facilities, science and ICT laboratories, and general classroom improvements to accommodate the growing student population.

He further urged the government to conduct an infrastructure audit and prioritise completing abandoned projects before initiating new ones.