The Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Technical and Vocation Education and Training (TVET), Gifty Twum-Ampofo, has apologised to teachers for concluding they are to blame for Ghana’s economic woes.
She apologised after criticisms from a section of Ghanaians over the comments.
Ms Twum-Ampofo made the statement which angered teachers during a speech she delivered as a special guest at the 175th anniversary of the Akropong Presbyterian College in the Eastern Region on Saturday, July 5.
“So, for our instructors, for our lecturers here, we see that once you have that responsibility and you get so much committed to it, then you are sure that the gross tertiary enrolment ratio will definitely increase, and once that increases, the GDP of the country will increase,” she had claimed.
She continued: “For this simple reason, if the economy is not doing well, it is not the economists; it is the teachers. Let me say that again if the economy is not doing well, it is not the finance minister, it is not the economist, it is the teacher because the performance of the economy depends on the country’s gross tertiary enrollment ratio,” she noted at the event.
However, after a huge backlash, she made a U-turn about her initial comments.
She said she would never undermine the contribution of teachers in Ghana.
“I will never take teachers for granted in my life because I am a teacher, and I don’t regret being a teacher,” she said on TV3.
“I haven’t denied that. But what I am saying is that it is unfortunate that people that you are praising, you could quickly jump to accuse them. It was a fact-finding, and I stated that “.
“If the people are hurt, I am sorry.”
Meanwhile, the Ghana National Association of Teachers(GNAT) has condemned her statement.
GNAT said they find her utterances unfortunate, vicious, irresponsible, and unwarranted.
The association added that it is the responsibility of the deputy minister, who is an educationist, to protect the image of teachers.
This woman has been a thorn in the teachers’ flesh ever since she began her career at the metro education office. She is a “mafia” to teachers