The National President of the Health Tutors Association of Ghana (HeTAG), Dr. Simon Agongo Azure, has called for urgent government intervention to address poor conditions of service, delayed allowances, blocked promotions, and the lack of legal backing for public health training institutions across the country.

Speaking at the Association’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at Ejisu in the Ashanti region, Dr. Azure said the gathering brought together tutors from over 72 public health training institutions to deliberate on critical issues affecting their profession and the future of health training in Ghana.

According to him, the AGM focused on discussions around conditions of service, the scheme of service, institutional statutes, and other key documents needed to improve the welfare of tutors and strengthen health training institutions nationwide.

“This AGM is to bring all the tutors across over 72 public health training institutions to this venue. We gathered here to discuss issues concerning the association,” he said.

He explained that one of the major concerns is the absence of an approved scheme of service for health tutors, a document that clearly outlines responsibilities, duties, and expectations within the institutions.

“We want to look at our business in terms of our conditions of service, in terms of our scheme of service, in terms of the statutes and any other document that the Ministry is expected to assist us have, and which will make our life comfortable as we train our health professionals,” he stated.

Dr. Azure noted that although work on the scheme of service began under the previous administration and is being continued by the current government, it has still not been approved for official use.

He also raised concerns over the absence of a Legislative Instrument (LI) that legally establishes the health training institutions as tertiary institutions.

“The statute gives us the power, or in other words, it establishes the institutions why the institutions exist. The Ministry made us to understand that as it stands now, we don’t have an LI that establishes the schools,” he said.

He explained that the Ministry is currently working on administrative guidelines expected to be laid before Parliament and passed into law, which would provide the legal backing needed for institutional governance and other demands.

“So when that law is into effect, it means that every other issue that we are discussing will come from that law and it will serve us good,” he added.

Dr. Azure stressed that the passage of the LI is central to achieving better conditions of service and stronger institutional recognition.

“If the LI were to be in force, any demand you are making, you have to make reference to the LI. Because the LI requires you to do this and therefore your conditions will be tied to that LI,” he explained.

On remuneration, he argued that health tutors possess qualifications comparable to lecturers in universities and Colleges of Education, yet their salaries and benefits remain significantly lower.

“When you compare College of Education, then the university, they almost have a similar salary structure, and this is designed just because of their qualification. When you compare that with the health training institutions, we also have the similar qualifications. We have people who hold PhD, and yet the conditions of service are not comparable to the universities. Why should that be so?” he questioned.

He also highlighted the long-standing issue of book and research allowance, saying health tutors have pursued the matter for the past five to six years without success.

“We will get to a point where our names are validated to be sent to the Ministry of Finance for payment. We will keep on hearing stories: ‘It will be done today, tomorrow,’ and so on, but we don’t have any fruitful outcome of it,” he lamented.

Career progression was another major concern. He explained that while tutors should be able to rise to the rank of Chief Health Tutor, that terminal grade has effectively been blocked, preventing many qualified professionals from reaching the highest level in their career.

“The last terminal grade, which is the Chief Health Tutor, has been terminated. In other words, we don’t even get the opportunity to be promoted to that grade,” he said.

Responding to concerns about professional development, a representative from the Health Training Institution at the Ministry of Health, Joyce Yegeyia, said government has already initiated PhD scholarship support for health tutors to help strengthen their academic qualifications as institutions move toward degree-awarding status.

“With regards to the issue of the scholarship, the PhD scholarship for the health tutors, this has been given to tutors who have applied already; some are already in school, some too are yet to take up these courses to equip themselves with the prerequisite skills to be able to take care of the nursing training school as we try to advance to the degree-awarding level,” she said.

She explained that the initiative is aimed at equipping tutors with the necessary skills required to support the transition of nursing and health training institutions to degree-awarding institutions.

“And so definitely the tutors too must be up to task to be able to reach the same level with the universities,” she stated.

She noted that tutors applying to universities within Ghana will be considered under the current scholarship arrangement, but those seeking admission outside the country are not covered for now.

“For those who are applying to any of the universities within the country, they will be considered. But if it is outside of Ghana, that is not part of the PhD scholarship for now,” she added.

She also disclosed that interviews had already been conducted for some shortlisted applicants, with the final outcomes expected to be announced after the completion of the necessary administrative processes.

“We already organized some interviews for some shortlisted applicants. The results are yet to be brought to the know,” she said.

Also speaking at the AGM, Director of Ghana Adventist Health Services and a Human Resource Expert, Dr. James Antwi, described the gathering as timely and necessary, stressing that health tutors play a critical role in national healthcare delivery but often receive little recognition.

“I see this gathering as relevant and important where health tutors will come together to look at what they are doing and then the challenges facing them as professionals,” he said.

He said while tutors continue to produce thousands of health professionals for the country, they are rarely placed in the spotlight or adequately acknowledged for their contribution.

“I always say, ‘Who cares for the caregiver?’ They are producing thousands of graduates, but sometimes they are not in the spotlight; they are not recognized,” he stated.

According to him, as health training institutions transition into degree-awarding institutions, recognition and improved welfare for tutors become even more important.

“As the schools migrate to degree-awarding, that recognition is important so that when they develop themselves, whatever they do will be compensated for, so that they can also take care of themselves, be motivated to do more, and also have that spirit of helping mother Ghana,” he said.

Dr. Antwi noted that investment in health tutors yields long-term national benefits because a single well-trained tutor can help produce generations of healthcare professionals over decades.

“We cannot wait because with the cedi that we spend on health tutor, I think will produce about 20, 30 years of graduates for the nation,” he emphasized.

He described the deliberate expansion of educator training in recent years as one of the key reasons Ghana now has more health workers to address critical healthcare challenges across the country.

Despite the concerns raised, Dr. Azure commended the Minister of Health and his team for being accessible and willing to engage with the association.

“We want to commend the Minister and his entire team at the Ministry. They are doing so well. Anytime we approach them, they give us a listening ear, they attend to us, and they try to see what our issues are,” he said.

He assured the Ministry of the association’s willingness to collaborate in improving health training institutions and supporting the broader healthcare agenda.

“We want to partner with Ministry. In every vision that Minister intends to achieve, we are available. We are part of the Ministry and we will make ourselves available to assist him,” he indicated.