Some unemployed graduate teachers who have undergone three to four years of training through the distance education system are calling on the government to employ them.

The teachers, ranging from year batches from2015 to 2019, said the Government has failed to employ them even though those who graduated from colleges of education have been employed.

At a press conference held in Bolgatanga, Members of the Unemployed Distance Graduate Teachers Association (UDGTA), said past and present governments had been unfair in the recruitment of teachers into the Ghana Education Service.

“We humbly invite your intervention to direct the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to revise the recruitment method, where only teachers from the colleges of education who have attained tertiary status just like the universities we have attended, are recruited at the disadvantage of teachers from the universities who hold same or even higher qualification”.

A member of the group, Asakibokire Daniel, who read the statement on behalf of his colleagues, said those who read Basic Education, Early Childhood Education, Psychology, and Foundation of Education among other subjects at the various universities through distance education had participated in the licensing examination and were licensed to teach.

He said the government had acted in circumvention of the Education act 2008 (Act 778), which spells out for equal employment opportunities for all qualified teachers.

“The above clause is very clear and does not give priority to any institution or a year group as a requirement for being recruited into the service, as the Ghana education service advertised last year and even last week”, he stated.

Another voiced, “We are crying that, as the government is recruiting graduates of training colleges, a similar opportunity should be given to us, those who went through the University training. If going through the University education is not legal, then the government should find a way to abolish the distance education in the country”, Samira Sadik said.

Another unemployed graduate, Adongo Victoria, said they had suffered some form of humiliation from the public due to the government’s failure to employ them.

“The insults are too much for us, especially from those who went straight to the training colleges. They often tell us we didn’t pass our final examination that is why the government is not recruiting us”, she concluded.