The Ministry of Education has stated that it is unable to post graduate trainee teachers who did not complete school in 2018.
It made the statement in reaction to demands by dozens of graduate trainee teachers who on Thursday protested over their unemployment.
The teachers who represent over 3,000 teacher trainees picketed at the Ghana Education Service (GES) to demand their postings.
They accused the GES of not posting them despite the completion of their mandatory national service and licensure certification.
But speaking on Accra-based radio station, Citi FM, the Public Relations Officer for the Education Ministry, Vincent Assafuah said that the Ministry does not have the required financial clearance to cater for them all others except for those who completed their program in 2018.
“So as of rights I don’t think that those who completed in 2018, are having any problem at all. Now the most important thing is that they have quite a number of them who did not complete in 2018 and the financial clearance that we have from the Ministry of Finance is only for those who completed in 2018. So, if you fall outside that particular scope it means that there is nothing, we can do for you for now. We cannot post anybody who did not complete in 2018,” he stated.
He, however, directed the graduate trainee teachers who may not have applied for postings to do so, as records have revealed that not all trainee teachers who picketed at the GES premises have done so.
He further noted that the trainee teachers who undergo the application process will be engaged in due time.
“The problem with them is that, they feel some of their friends and their brothers and sisters have already been engaged while they have not been engaged. But of course, there are some of them who fail to even apply at all. If you fail to apply, I don’t know how you will want the Ghana Education Service or the Ministry of Education to have your information. Anybody who qualified and completed the College of Education in 2018 was mandated to apply to the Ghana Education Service. That is just a few of them, not everybody. So, if you fail to apply, it means that we don’t have your information with the Ghana Education Service. You can’t be engaged,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Education Service has asked all unposted 2018 Trained Teachers to go to the various regional education offices to be attended to.
The Public relation Officer of the GES, Cassandra Twum Ampofo said there are interventions in place to address their situation.
“Here at the Headquarters, we are not dealing with individual cases. We rather work on the lists from the Regional Educational Offices. All those who have not yet been posted or yet qualified and have also gone to the Regional Offices to lodge a complaint, should be rest assured because we will look into it,” she said.