The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has assured the Conference of Principals of Colleges of Education (PRINCOFF) that their institutions will soon receive legal recognition as tertiary institutions through the introduction of a new ACT, which will revise ACT 847 to give them a new birth.

This assurance was given during a breakfast meeting, which was held between the sector minister and members of the PRINCOFF.

At the meeting, all 47 principals of the conference converged in the conference room of the Labadi Beach Hotel on Tuesday.

The breakfast meeting was aimed at addressing long-standing concerns facing the colleges.

The Education Minister assured the principals that ACT 847 will be revised into a bill to give Colleges of Education a firm legal backing to operate fully as tertiary institutions.
“My solutions will be very brief, so I'll convey five important policy decisions. One, an assurance to you that the government will, this year, before the end of 2025, introduce a new bill in parliament which will mark a revision of Act 847.

"A new bill which will give full legal backing to your new birth, your new standing, your new status will be introduced in parliament for the purpose of giving you the needed legal muscle to function effectively as Ghana's colleges of education now awarding degrees.”

During the meeting, the Minister also revealed that 2% of Ghana’s oil and gas revenue will be allocated to support Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), and part of it will be used to address some of the persistent challenges faced by the Colleges.

“I’m trying to convince the present cabinet and the Ministry of Finance that we should dedicate 2% of our oil revenue to support technical and vocational education. If that succeeds, we will get some envelopes of resources to support the education sector generally. So, next week, beginning from today, we will get your councils properly constituted."

Meanwhile, the President of PRINCOF, Professor Samuel Atintono, expressed deep satisfaction with the Minister’s assurances. He also disclosed that the long-standing issue of salary migration for staff of the Colleges of Education has finally been resolved.

“He listened very well and responded appropriately to the issues that we raised for the group of the Colleges of Education. We are fine. Of course, he had made some assurances, so what we wait for is to see the implementation or the practical responses to what we have asked for.

"For example, the vehicles for the principals, we said they are very bad and he has assured us he will consult with G-Tech and that will get fixed, then get back to us. So definitely. Yes, by January 2025 this year, all the staff of the Colleges of Education have been migrated to the university pay structure, so that has been dealt with.

“There are a few ones who couldn't get migrated, but those are just in the minority, whatever, very, very few. So, we are dealing with them because it's a process, it cannot be completed, but we are very happy that the migration has taken place”.