The Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana (TTAG) has opposed the proposal to cancel the allowance paid to them by the government.

The teacher trainees also expressed their opposition to suggestions that they should be made to access loans from the the Student Loan Trust Fund just like their counterparts in other tertiary education institutions.

Speaking on the Super Morning Show, on April 20, the President of the Association, Jonathan Dzunu, stated that the allowance, if canceled, will pose a great challenge to students, especially for those who cannot fend for themselves.

"We don’t agree to the cancellation of the allowance. Students on the loan themselves equally have their own problems and if you look at history, this allowance has been canceled, brought, canceled, and brought back. There is a particular importance attached to it that stakeholders are even aware of."

His comment comes as a response to various calls for the allowance to be scrapped.

Some stakeholders in education; African Education Watch and policy think tank, IMANI have all suggested that government should abolish the allowance.

The African Education Watch has described it as wasteful and needless, thus, asking the Education Ministry to redirect funds allocated for the allowance to recruiting more teachers to address the teacher deficit in the country.

Also, IMANI Ghana thinks the Ministry of Education and government should consider scrapping the teacher trainee allowance and channel the funds into improving the working conditions of teachers in rural areas.

When asked by co-host of the show, Winston Amoah about the justification for the continued payment of allowance, when students in other tertiary institutions in Ghana are not fed or given allowances, Mr. Dzunu responded that, "training colleges do not qualify to be universities since university students do not have a prescribed uniform and do not reside in dormitories" as in their case.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, Kwasi Kwarteng, at the beginning of the year indicated that there are no ongoing conversations to scrap the payment of teacher trainee allowance.

According to him, despite the rumours, the government is still paying the allowance, adding that scrapping the allowance does not guarantee an automatic solution to all challenges faced by Colleges of Education in the country.

Speaking on The Pulse on JoyNews, Mr. Kwarteng said, “so far as the Ministry is concerned, there has been no such conversation on the scrapping of allowance and as of now, the allowances are being paid, the allowances on authority, categorically, have not been scrapped.”

He explained that although some people are calling for the removal of the allowance, there have been studies that support it.

“If you look at the allowances, there are a lot of other studies making a very strong case for it, we have students buying their books, handouts with it, and a lot of things also goes into it as well,” Mr Kwarteng added.