The National Teacher Licensure Examination has been integrated into the final examination of trainees and will no longer be held as a separate examination, the National Teaching Council (NTC) has said.

It added that the examination had been modified and enhanced, citing, for instance, that it now included a practical aspect that constituted 30 percent of the final trainees’ examination.

Speaking at a press briefing in Accra on February 23 to refute concerns that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government had reneged on its promise to abolish the licensure examination, the Board Chairman of the NTC, Emmanuel Kwame Alorvi, repeated provisions in the party’s manifesto that it would be part of the final examination of the trainees.

NDC position on licensure exam

Mr Alorvi said the NDC’s manifesto ahead of the 2024 elections indicated an intention to abolish the licensure exam in its prevailing form at the time, referencing a portion of the document that stated that:

“The NDC shall abolish the teacher licensure examination and integrate the licensure process into the final year examination of teacher trainees ”.

“This clause in the NDC manifesto means that the party would abolish the process whereby the trainees had to wait to complete college and wait at home for one year before sitting for their examination.

“The old form of the licensure examination also involved a six-hour pencil-and-paper examination in literacy, numeracy, and essential professional skills. There was no practical assessment despite the fact that teaching involves pedagogical knowledge as well as content knowledge.

“The old examination had no teaching practice part. They (fresh teachers) all wrote the examination without any practical aspect,” Mr Alorvi further explained.

He said in fulfillment of the NDC pledge, the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, set up a seven-member committee to come up with modalities for implementing the government's professional licensing policy. 

Committee recommendation

“The committee's report, presented to the Minister of Education on May 28, 2025, recommended a three-tier approach to implementing the government's licensure policy.

The first tier, he said, covered those resitting the exam and trainees who had completed college and were waiting to sit the exam in its old form,” he explained.

Mr Alorvi added that even though the old system was phased out in August 2025, by the time the committee was set up, there was a batch of teachers who completed college in 2025 and wanted to write the licensure examination under the previous regime, which meant they had to wait for one year.

“Those who sat the previous year and were not successful were also given a chance. So, the first tier was concerned about those categories of students,” he explained. 

Reformed licensure exam

The NTC Board Chairman gave an assurance that teacher trainees currently in college would write the reformed licensure as part of their final semester examination and would not need to complete and wait for a whole year to write the licensure exam.

Mr Alovi further clarified that the practical component currently included in the new licensure structure was missing in the old regime.

“Teaching practice has been added, constituting 30 percent of the total mark. Previously, it was only the literacy, numeracy, and professional skills that took 100 percent of the licensure exam.

“But the reform recognises that teaching involves both practical and content. So, 30 percent of the teaching practice they did at college formed 30 percent of their assessment in 2025. That's the new reform,” Mr Alovi added.

Screening

Touching on the third tier, Mr Alorvi said a screening process needed to be put in place for prospective students to ensure that the right and qualified trainees entered the colleges.

He expressed concern over the failure rate of trainees in the licensure examination, and wondered whether the fresh teachers were not preparing well, were not serious about their studies when they entered the colleges of education, or whether those that entered the colleges of education are not of the best quality ”.

“That is the recommendation that the NTC should engage all stakeholders, including the teacher unions, so that, if possible, we can screen the candidates going to the colleges of education.

“If they don't pass the screening process, they don't enter because if they enter, that means they spend money on training allowance,” Mr Alovi said.