Teachers who accept postings to rural and hard-to-reach communities will now qualify for study leave with pay after two years of service instead of the previous three, Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has announced.

The Minister made the announcement on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, July 2, as he outlined measures being implemented by the Mahama administration to attract, motivate and retain teachers in deprived and underserved communities.

"As part of government's efforts to attract, motivate and retain teachers in deprived and underserved communities, special incentives have been put in place for teachers who accept postings to such areas," he said.

"I'm happy to note that one of these incentives is a reduction in the number of years required to qualify for study leave. Originally, it was three years if you were in a deprived area. We have reduced it now to two years. Any person who accepts posting to a rural deprived area, after two years of service, can apply for study leave with pay," Mr Iddrisu stated.

The Minister also reaffirmed the government's commitment to implementing a 20 percent rural posting allowance for teachers serving in deprived communities.

"Government is committed to roll out the 20 percent salary allowance we assured for rural posting... and the Ministry of Finance, the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education are working on implementing that," he said.

Mr Iddrisu further disclosed that the government is engaging stakeholders on the implementation of the Teacher Dabre Initiative, a programme proposed by President John Dramani Mahama to provide accommodation for teachers in rural areas.

According to him, the initiative is intended to address the housing challenges that have affected teacher deployment and retention in underserved communities.

He said deliberate measures are being taken to ensure that the construction of new school facilities is accompanied by teachers' accommodation.

The Education Minister explained that the initiative would be implemented through a decentralised approach under the leadership of the Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund.

He added that government intends to leverage the Ghana Social Opportunities Project (GSOP) pension fund, which currently holds about GH¢12 billion, as collateral to support the rollout of the programme.

"What the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Education will provide would be our pension fund, referred to as GSOP which has about 12 billion standing, that can be used as collateral to roll out the Teacher Dabre Initiative," Mr Iddrisu stated.

He noted that a joint Cabinet memorandum involving the Ministries of Finance, Education, Works and Housing, as well as Local Government, would be required to provide a roadmap for the implementation of the initiative.