The Government has reintroduced the quota admission system for the 46 accredited Public Colleges of Education, effective the beginning of the 2022/2023 academic year.

The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), in a letter to the National Conference of Principals of Colleges of Education (PRINCOF) outlined the number of permissible admissions for prospective teacher trainees for the 46 colleges of education.

"Please be informed that the allocation cannot be varied and must be strictly adhered to. For the avoidance of doubt, payment of Feeding Grants and Trainee Allowances will be guided by these members," GTEC said in its letter.

Below is a list of the colleges and their permissible admission numbers.

What led to the collapse of the quota system

Former President John Mahama scrapped the teacher trainee allowances for colleges of education and replaced it with students loans from the Student Loan Trust Fund.

He argued that the move would increase enrolment in the various colleges of education and reduce the financial burden on the government.

By this decision, the quota system was no more used by the various colleges of education.

Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa who was the then Deputy Minister for Education said the quota system which had been in existence for almost three decades, had become inimical to the progress of teacher education hence the decision to remove it.

He said the government had increased the allocation for the Students Loan Trust "so that they will have enough to support the teacher trainees" who require financial assistance.

He said with the scrapping of the allowances and the quota system, enrolment into the colleges of education increased from 27,000 to 47,000 in the various colleges.

However, prior to the 2016 elections, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as part of its electioneering campaign promised to restore the teacher trainee allowances.

The then-running mate to the presidential candidate of NPP and now Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said the nurses' and teacher trainee allowances were non-negotiable.

“We will restore the teacher and nursing training allowances – for us, it is non-negotiable. Every nation must prioritise certain sectors at every point in time and invest the necessary resources to reap maximum benefits. For the NPP, Ghana today needs to invest every necessary resource in education to give us the quality human resource we need to win the globally competitive economic battle,” he had argued.

The NPP after winning the 2016 elections restored the nursing and teacher trainee allowance and promised not to bring back the quota system for the colleges of education.

Professor Kwesi Yankah, the Minister of State in Charge of Tertiary Education in 2017 noted that Colleges of Education could admit as many qualified applicants as their available facilities could allow but without compromising quality and standards.

He said the government would not introduce a quota system for admission which could prevent many prospective applicants from getting admission into teacher training colleges.