The Executive Director of the Institute of Education Studies (IFEST), Dr Peter Anti, has backed the government’s decision to replace teacher trainee allowances with an enhanced loan scheme.

Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show, Dr Anti described the move as the right decision, emphasising that it should have been done long ago. He recalled that a similar policy was introduced in 2015 and at the time, his institution fully supported it.

“I think that is the right thing to do. We supported the government in 2015 when they decided to scrap the allowance and replace it with the loan scheme. So, ten years down the line, the government wants to institute the same measure, and I think we should have done this long ago. We don’t need to politicise this.”

Dr Anti stressed that Ghana needs a more efficient and fair way to fund teacher trainees. He pointed out that students in colleges of education receive allowances while their counterparts at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) and the University of Cape Coast (UCC), who are pursuing the same programme, do not.

“I remember about three years ago, I was invited to speak at a conference organised by one of the colleges. I told them that they have been reclassified as tertiary institutions, and they have colleagues at UEW and UCC doing the same programme. But the advantage they have is that after completing, they are more likely to be posted to schools, whereas their colleagues in Winneba and UCC do not have that advantage.”

He further questioned the fairness of the current system, saying it creates an imbalance in funding opportunities.

“At the end of the day, those in colleges of education receive allowances and are assured of employment, while their colleagues in universities do not receive any financial support and struggle to find jobs.

It does not even speak well in terms of equity in funding. It does not feel fair in terms of bridging the gap between these two groups of students who are doing the same programme and will all enter the job market.”

Dr Anti believes that introducing a loan scheme should not eliminate opportunities for financially disadvantaged students to receive full scholarships.

“I think we need a more efficient system, a more progressive system to fund our education. Going forward, this replacement of the enhanced loan scheme will be ideal. However, we must also ensure that there are scholarship opportunities for those who truly need them.”

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