The Executive Director of the Institute For Education Studies (IFEST), Dr. Peter Anti, says it is problematic for the former President, John Mahama, to promise to repeal the teacher licensure examination.

According to him, the populist promise seeks to unravel years of work done by the Teacher Training Association and its shareholders in ensuring that only the best teacher trainees make it into the classroom.

Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show, he argued that the concerns being raised by the former President have not been associated with nurses who also have to write a licensure exam after their studies.

 “The nurses they do four years. okay, So it is not that this is something that is peculiar to the teachers and not that we are  trying to find ways and means of preventing people from becoming teachers, no, it is the regulatory body that determine the mode of admitting people into the profession.”

The former president and flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) said he would stop the teacher licensure examination if voted into power in 2024.

Mr. Mahama claimed the concept surrounding the licensure exams for teachers was not well thought out, and has raised concerns.

The former President said he does not understand why after several examinations in school, College of Education students would have to take a licensure exams before being allowed to practice.

But reacting to the statement, the IFEST Executive Director accused the former President of using that promise to seduce teacher trainees to vote him into office.

This is because some teacher trainees have long considered the licensure exams as burdensome.

However, Dr. Anti says without the licensure exams to instill some sanctity in the teaching profession, the educational future of the country could be put at risk.

“The fact that you have gone through College of Education for four years does not automatically make you a teacher. That is the challenge some of us have had over the years. We think that the teaching profession is just anything that you can just walk in and leave,” he said.