The National Service Scheme (NSS) has assured its personnel that allowances for September 2023 have been released to the Scheme and are being processed for payment as soon as possible.
The Scheme also assured personnel that allowances for October and the arrears from the recent upward adjustments are all being processed and will be paid soon after payment of the September allowances.
This follows concerns raised by personnel regarding their unpaid allowances for September and arrears covering January to June 2023 from the recent upward adjustments of their monthly allowances.
NSS encouraged its personnel in a statement issued on Sunday “to exercise restraint as the normal financial processes are being adhered to for all their well-deserved allowances to be paid.”
Hon Osei Assibey Antwi-NSS Boss
It further commended the patience of all service personnel in the face of the challenges they had experienced serving their country.
“Management wishes all national service personnel well as they complete their one-year mandatory national service to the state at the end of October 2023,” it added.
A KUMASI-based Journalist, Simon Opoku Afriyie , has extended a helping hand to scores of children of school-going age at Manso Muawano in the Amansie south District of the Ashanti Region.
Mr. Opoku Afriyie who is also Otec Fm news reporter and the Chief Executive Officer of choicenewsonline.com, presented exercise books, pens ,pencils,erasers ,sharpeners mathematical sets to hundreds of pupils in the community.
According to the philanthropist, the gesture was to motivate the young children to learn hard and also support their parents and guardians who were cash-strapped and badly needed help.
The ace broadcast journalist, has for the past three years also assisted the aged widows and widowers in the Muawano in various forms and also organizing free health screenings for hundreds of residents in the community and nearby surroundings.
Nr. Opoku Afriyie in an interview with the media said his desire was to see his native Manso Muawano one day producing brilliant students who would grow up to develop the area and impact many others.
The CEO of choicenewsonline.com, used the occasion to appeal to the government , Member of Parliament (MP) of the area, Yaw Frimpong Addo and DCE of the District, Clement Opoku Gyamfi to come to the aid of the Muawano community to construct classroom blocks since the pupils walk long distance nearby communities to get access to education which is hampering learning in the community.
He said getting the classroom blocks will help to promote teaching and learning In the area.
He again made a passionate appeal to the government to construct mechanize boreholes in the community to solve the water crisis in the area.
According to him, the community has only one functioning borehole which is a problem to the residents of the community.
“School children always get to school late due to the long que for water,” he lamented.
He promised to do more donations to his community whenever he gets the power to do so.
Some of the beneficiaries pupils thanked Mr Simon Opoku Afriyie for the gesture.
Some parents who spoke to the media said, the items has brought massive relief to them.
They also appealed to natives of Muawano who have traveled abroad to emulate the kind benevolence of Mr. Opoku Afriyie.
The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that under government’s new Comprehensive National Teacher Policy, the distribution of laptop computers, enhancing of skills set and institution of appropriate welfare incentives have translated evidently translated into improved effectiveness for our educators.
According to President Akufo-Addo, the Ministry of Education and the National Teaching Council’s implementation of these policies and programmes at both the pre-service and in-service level have ensured the sustained production and maintenance of the quality teachers needed in the education transformation agenda.
He noted that, as a mark towards improving teacher quality and skill set, the National Teaching Council (NTC) instituted the Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination which has ensured that graduates recruited to teach have met the professional standards set by the Regulator and that they are fit for purpose in this very important area.
Additionally, the Ministry of Education, through the NTC, he stated, has institutionalised a point-based continuous professional development system that ensures that our teachers do not remain stale, but stay competitive and relevant in the ever-dynamic world of knowledge and skills.
Within the same period, the NPP government, he said, towards ensuring the success of teachers’ continuous professional development, introduced the Continuous Professional Development allowance to enable teachers afford Continuous Professional Development programmes.
Some scenes from the event
The President explained that “Introducing the GH¢1,200 Continuous Professional Development Allowance, paying an intervention allowance amounting to GH¢65 million for senior high school teachers for the 2022/2023 academic year, implementing categories two and three allowances for district and regional directors of education, and ensuring a thirty percent (30%) salary increase for all teachers in 2023,” will go a long way to motivate teachers to deliver more.
He also touched on the mass distribution of laptop computers to every teacher to improve the digital skills of teachers, adding that, “I have tasked the Minister for Education, personally, to ensure that those few teachers yet to receive their laptops join the overwhelming majority who have received theirs.”
President Akufo-Addo was addressing teachers and educationists at the 6th edition of the Ghana Teacher Prize, on Thursday, 5th October, 2023, held at the Ghana Secondary Technical School, in Takoradi.
These key interventions, he indicated is testament to the NPP government’s commitment to the ‘Teacher First’ policy which ensures that “our teachers, who are central to all education reforms, are fully tooled, skilled and supported to deliver quality learning outcomes to support our development aspirations.”
President Akufo-Addo also added that just as the “Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP), have trained 75,000 teachers in Teaching and Learning in a Digital Age” at a time when the use and knowledge of technological products and tools is a pre-requisite to 21st century teaching and learning.
Continuing, he said, “with the implementation of the Standard Based Curriculum, we have introduced Professional Learning Community Programmes, as well as Continuous Professional Development Days, in our schools to enable teachers take advantage and sharpen their skills.”
President Akufo-Addo told the gathering that, with essential focus on the benefits of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication and digital literacy, all starts with a good teacher, the NTC, at the pre-service level, in collaboration with the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, introduced the National Teacher Education Curriculum Framework in 2018.
“This resulted in raising the minimum qualification to teach in Ghana to a bachelor’s degree. Five (5) years after the implementation of the curriculum, steps are being taken to review it to keep pace with global dynamics. Undoubtedly, improvement of quality in the teacher education institutions is a priority to Government, hence our focus on improving infrastructure and other learning resources in our colleges of education,” he disclosed.
Madam Faith Aku Dzakpasu, a teacher at GRETA ‘D’ Shepherd Two Basic School in the Greater Accra region, has been adjudged the most outstanding teacher for the year 2023.
For her prize, she was presented with a prototype of a three-bedroom apartment to be built at a place of her choice in any part of the country, one million cedis worth of insurance from the State Insurance Company (SIC) and 1000 exercise books.
President Akufo-Akufo making presentation to the winner
The first runner-up award went to Madam Isabella Wussa-Tetteh of Sege D/A Primary in the Greater Accra region .She also went home a 4×4 Pick Up, one million cedis worth of insurance cover from SIC and 1000 exercise books as her prize.
Madam Faith Aku Dzakpasu
The second runner-up position on the other hand went to Fredous Idi-Amin of Ogbojo Presbyterian Basic School who also took home a brand new Saloon Car, one million cedis insurance cover from SIC and 1000 exercise books.
Other awards presented were the Best Junior High School Teacher, Best Primary School Teacher, Best Primary Teacher, Best Senior High, and Best Technical Teacher among others.
Aside from these, a new award was presented to Mr Simon Boateng, from the St Monica’s College of Education, Asante Mampong for being the Best Tutor from all the Colleges of education in the country and took home a 4×4 Pick Up.
Address
Speaking at the awards ceremony, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, praised teachers in the country for their dedication and commitment towards the development of the nation through education.
He explained that the huge investment being made in the education sector in the country would not yield any result without the teacher.
Nana Akufo-Addo stated that the role of teachers in the training of the right manpower for the nation cannot be underestimated and pledged to continue supporting the sector to ensure that effective teaching and learning take place in all schools across the country.
He mentioned the payment of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) allowance to teachers, the provision of laptops to teachers, upgrading of Diploma certificates to Degrees for Colleges of Education among others as some of the initiatives put in place to improve education development in the country.
Assurance.
The President assured all teachers who have not yet received their Laptops under the One Teacher One Laptop project, that everything possible would be done to ensure that they received theirs and called on the Education Minister to do everything possible to ensure that the outstanding ones were presented to the deserving teachers.
Nana Akufo-Addo lauded the NTC and all other institutions which contributed in diverse ways towards the awards for their commitment towards honouring the nation’s gallant teachers.
The President was happy the huge investment being made in the education sector has started yielding good results citing the good grades made by this year’s students who sat for the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE) which recorded very high scores in all subjects.
Commendation:
Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister for Education was full of praise to the President for his commitment and interest in the development of education in the country.
He assured the President of his readiness to continue working very hard towards the attainment of the best education for the nation since education was the driving force behind the development of every country.
The Education Minister appealed to all stakeholders in the education space to continue working very hard towards the transformation of the country through education.
Dr Adutwum stated that “we are not just providing education for the nation’s youth but we are positioning the nation to become a giant in various facets with the training of people with critical thinking skills and knowledge that is required towards the development of the nation’s economy.
The Registrar of the NTC, Dr Christian Addai-Poku, praised the sponsors and other institutions which played various roles towards the honouring of the teachers as a way of motivating and appreciating them for their roles played.
He pledged to continue working very hard to ensure that the quality of teaching in schools was improved by putting in place the right initiatives to ensure that the quality of instruction in schools was maintained.
Dr Addai-Poku called for something to be done to help reduce the high teacher attrition situation in the country which posed a great danger to the nation’s development.
END
The Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has taken a subtle jab at the National Democratic Congress’ Green Book, while referring to the amount of work the sitting president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has out into the education sector.
The minister said that Ghana remains one of the leaders in the world when it comes to countries with a lot of qualified teachers, although he admitted that more still needs to be done for them.
Referring to the Green Book, a comprehensive document put together by the National Democratic Congress under John Dramani Mahama that showcased all the projects undertaken by their government, Dr. Adutwum said he has adopted evidenced-based approaches in highlighting what the president has done in education.
“We are one of the few countries in the world where you can get 100 teachers today, if you want them. So, our universities have done a good job, but we need to a better job in the deployment process and we are going to do just that.
Dr.Osei Yaw Adutwum responding to cheers
“You seem politicians, sometimes we don’t do ourselves a favour. We are our worst enemies. Worst enemies in the sense that if you look at the work Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has put into education, somebody can look at you, say with a straight face that he has done nothing. So, these days, I do evidence-based communication; no Green Book wahala – I show you what we have done,” he said.
Dr, Yaw Osei Adutwum made this known while speaking at the 2023 Ghana Teacher Prize being held at Takoradi in the Western Region.
The Ghana Teacher Prize is in its 6th year after it was rebranded in 2018 from the Best Teacher Source:otixpress.com
Dr. Eric Nkansah, Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES),has congratulated hardworking Ghanaian Teachers on World Teachers Day for the hardworking towards the building of the nation.
This was contained in a congratulatory message he sent to all teachers in the country during this year’s teachers world day celebration.
5th October, has been set aside worldwide to celebrate teachers for their immense contribution to the world.
This year’s celebration is under the theme: ‘The Teachers We Need for the Education We Want: The Global Imperative to Reverse the Teacher Shortage’.
‘We celebrate you, our hardworking teachers across the country for your extraordinary service to Mother Ghana’ He stated.
He said ‘I want to take this opportunity to express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to all the teachers across the country for your commitment and devotion to duty’.
He said that efforts were been put in place to solve difficulties teachers go through in their profession so to improve the learning outcome of Ghanaian source:BB/GNA
The Registrar of the National Teaching Council, Dr Christian Addai-Poku, has announced that the high attrition rate in the nation’s education sector poses a great threat towards the future of the nation’s education and development.
He then appealed to the government and all other stakeholders to put in place the right measures to curb the situation to avoid the looming danger.
The Registrar stated that for instance, early this year a little over 16,000 Ghanaian teachers applied to the Department of Education in the UK for employment and by June 13th 2023, 10,000 of the applicants with Ghana Teacher Licenses had been certified to work in the UK without any further assessment (qualified teacher status test) by the UK government.
Dr. Christian Addai-Poku
Dr Addai-Poku announced this when he delivered his welcome address during the first day of a two-day symposium that preceded this year’s Ghana Teacher Prize scheduled to take place on Thursday at Takoradi in the Western Region.
Dr.Christian Addai-Poku
The symposium brought together education practitioners, academics and policymakers to discuss topical issues, created a major platform for various agencies to engage participants on important policy issues and also offered a stage for schools to exhibit some innovations emanating from their schools.
It further provided a forum for the shortlisted award winners to showcase some of the things they did differently to merit this national recognition as well as a deep dive into the theme of the year’s World Teachers Day celebration.
The Registrar posited that although the nation churns out a huge number of qualified teachers each year, the high attrition rate turns around to create shortage yearly across the country.
Dr Addai-Poku commended all stakeholders in the nation’s education space for their roles and efforts being made towards attaining the best education for the nation’s future leaders.
Partnership
He pledged to collaborate with both local and international agencies that are ready to partner to shape the training and professionalism of the Ghanaian teacher so they could give their best towards the transformation of the nation’s economy.
The Deputy Minister for Education, in charge of the TVET Sector, Madam Gifty Twum Ampofo, stated that the theme for this year’s Ghana Teacher Prize, dubbed – ” The teachers we need for the education we want: The global imperative to reverse the teacher shortage” was apt and touches the spine of the crisis at hand, an examination of which will shed light on its multifaceted dimensions while advocating for a comprehensive solution
She mentioned that “in a world that is rapidly advancing in its quest for knowledge acquisition, where it requires constant verification and authentication of information before learners can consume it, the role of teachers has never been more critical.
The Deputy Minister said teachers were not merely conduits of information; but rather the architects of the collective future, shaping the minds of the younger ones, fostering critical thinking, and instilling values and attitudes that transcend generations.
Madam Twum Ampofo said, “Let’s join the National Teaching Council and the Ministry of Education in this exploration to deal with the teacher shortage, acknowledging the fact that reversing the teacher shortage is a long-term endeavour that requires collaboration between governments, educational institutions, civil society, and private sector”.
Prof. Andy Ofori-Birikorang, former Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, indicated that the role of teachers in the nation’s development agenda cannot underestimated saying that “teachers are responsible for the society’s health, harmony and prosperity, they are the architects and engineers of everything we call societal future.
Through the training teachers give to our children and, sometimes adults, they lay the foundation and erect on that foundation the progressive and prosperous society we yearn for”.
He recounted how through the instrumentality of teachers, they bring up children and show them the socio-cultural and moral compass of our society.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr Seth Twum Akwaboah, has praised the Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, and the government for the frantic effort towards the development of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in the country.
He explained that the move was the surest way of equipping the nation’s youth with essential skills and also positions the nation to compete in the global landscape of innovation and technology.
Dr.Osei Yaw Adutwum (middle) in a group photograph
Mr Twum Akwaboah made the commendation yesterday during the second edition of the STEM Promotion Roadshow held at the Abomosu Senior High School in the Eastern Region.
The STEM Promotion Road Show was aimed at providing students, parents and other relevant stakeholders with valuable insights into the numerous opportunities that STEM education can unlock, showcasing the potential for rewarding and impactful careers.
Dr.Osei Yaw Adutwum
Mr Twum Akwaboah, pledged that the AGI would collaborate with the Education Ministry and other stakeholders to enhance the promotion of STEM education in the country.
He was upbeat that when many youth study STEM-related courses, it would go a long way to reduce the invitation of expatriates to handle certain critical jobs in the country, especially in the Oil and Gas sector, the manufacturing engineering among others.
The Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, stated that his passion for STEM education was due to the impact it has made in other parts of the world leading to the transformation of their economies.
He appealed to students, parents, opinion leaders and society in general to encourage their children to develop an interest in the STEM education space since that was what the global job market was focusing on.
Dr Adutwum hinted at plans to introduce aviation and aerospace programs in 12 Senior High Schools next academic year describing it as a strategic move to equip Ghanaian students with the essential skills and knowledge required to excel in the ever-evolving world of STEM disciplines.
The Information Minister, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, emphasized the importance of building a self-sustaining ecosystem for producing and servicing what we produce within the country.
He said the government was focused on investing in STEM education in the country and by this investment, the government seeks to build an expanded pool of professionals who can build the various things we find all around us.
The Information Minister also lauded Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum for his personal interest he has in the STEM field which keeps igniting his passion towards getting the best in that sector.
The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rev Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, has commended the Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, for his quality of leadership as the Education Minister describing him as “the most innovative Education Minister in Africa”.
He explained that the kind of innovations that Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum has brought into the nation’s education space were apt and gradually shaping the nation’s fortunes through education.
Rev. Prof J.O. Y Mante, announced this in his closing remarks on Saturday during the 85th anniversary of the Presbyterian Boys Senior High School, at Legon.
Rev Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante,
President Akufo-Akufo,Dr.Adutwum,Presby Moderator and other dignitaries at the event
The event which was graced by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo and other dignitaries from across the globe had the theme “Building upon a Legacy of Excellency-come along and join us”.
Also in attendance were the former Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Michael Oquaye and Dr Eric Nkansah, Director General of the Ghana Education Service.
Progression
The Moderator opines that should the ongoing transformation in the Education sector be allowed to continue for years, it would go a long way to speed up the transformation of the nation’s economy.
Rev. Prof. Mante appealed to all stakeholders in the education sector to continue playing their roles effectively to speed up the development of the country.
The Headmaster of the School, Mr David Odjidja, enumerated the various awards and laurels chalked by the school over the past years attributing the gains made to hard work, teamwork and dedication of both teaching and non-teaching staff with support from other stakeholders.
He appealed to the government to help provide the school with a new assembly hall and a minibus to enhance effective teaching and learning activities in the school.
The Headmaster lauded the Nana Akufo-Addo-led government for the various development projects and appealed for the completion of the ongoing road tarring on the campus to enhance movement in the school.
122,275 prospective national service personnel have been posted to various institutions nationwide to undertake their one-year mandatory service to the nation for the 2023/2024 season.
The personnel include the year 2023 eligible Ghanaian graduates from accredited tertiary institutions in the country, defaulters who submitted their applications for postings, and private registrants.
Hon.Osei Assibey Antwi-NSS Boss
Regional validation and registration will begin on Monday, 16th October 2023 at all centres across the country.
This is to accommodate prospective service personnel who are yet to complete their academic programmes.
The 2023/2024 National Service year will begin on Wednesday, 1st November 2023.
This was announced in a press statement signed by the Executive Director of the National Service Scheme, Osei Assibey Antwi, on Friday, September 29, 2023.
Management of the NSS in the statement indicated it does not support change of postings, and cautioned personnel to avoid getting in touch with faceless individuals or groups who claim to have the means to change postings.
