A former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Prof. Stephen Adei, has urged critics and the public to desist from creating the impression that all teachers in the country are hopeless.

This follows the massive failure of teachers in the 2023 Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination organised by the National Teaching Council.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Upfront, on Wednesday, Prof Adei noted that the number of teachers that failed the exam is a small section compared to the over 300,000 teachers in the country, many of whom have successfully passed the exam.

He added that the teachers that failed in the 2023 May exams are those who failed previously in their multiple attempts to get through the exams. 

“When you look at the 7000, those are mostly repeat, the worst kind. You have over 350,000 teachers. So that's why I'm saying you must put the 7,000 beside the over 350,000 so that you don't give the impression that our teachers are all hopeless,” Prof Adei told the host, Isaac Kofi Agyei.

His comment comes after the National Teaching Council revealed that about 83.5% of candidates failed the teachers’ licensure exams held in May 2023.

The NTC noted that out of the 7,728 teachers who participated in the re-sit exams, only 1,277 passed.

The assessment in numeracy, literacy and professional knowledge is to enable qualified teachers to get a professional license, while attracting young graduates with the required professional knowledge and skills to teach.

Following the failure, the Registrar of the National Teaching Council (NTC), Christian Addai-Poku, told JoyNews that the teachers who failed would be given a last chance to re-sit.

However, some prospective students who are preparing to write the exams later this year are already raising concerns about the lack of preparatory materials.

A student said, “most of us are doing our preparations on our own, some are relying on past questions, others have created a group to learn from each other.”

Another candidate said during the induction service they were advised to rely on pass questions as it was the best way to adequately prepare.

Read more: Over 6,000 teachers who failed licensure exams have last opportunity to resit – NTC Registrar

But Prof Adei believes that teachers do not have a right to demand for study material to aid them in adequately preparing for licensure exams.

According to him, although he has not seen the exam questions, most of the test materials are on topics that should be at the fingertips of professional teachers.

“I wish I had seen the examination because of what the NTC is saying, but basically for a teacher to be told that somebody should be given a syllabus on numeracy, just writing basic essay and you are a trained teacher and we are asking you about basic psychology, classroom management and the rest, and you say somebody should give you some material, you are indicting yourself,” he argued.

Read more: It’s just basic numeracy and literacy; teachers don’t need study material for licensure exam – Prof Adei

He stressed that the request by the teachers suggests that “ they are not qualified to be in the classroom.”