Ellen Ama Daaku, a communications team member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has questioned President John Dramani Mahama’s campaign pledge to cancel teacher licensure exams, urging the government to either fulfil the promise or clarify its position.
Speaking on Asaase Radio’s The Forum, over the weekend, Daaku said she was surprised the proposal to cancel licensure exams was made in the first place, arguing that certification is fundamental to professional standards.
Disservice
She further questioned whether adequate consultation had informed the policy, citing the role of the NDC’s manifesto committee.
“I am still surprised why President Mahama thought that cancelling licensure exams for teachers was a good thing to do. What profession does not need certification?” she said.
“I don’t know who advised him… I just think that the NDC manifesto committee did not do President Mahama any good,” she said.
She argued that teachers, like other professionals, must be certified before entering the classroom.
“The people we are entrusting our children’s education to should not just pass through the system without certification,” she said.
Honour promise
She called on the administration to honour its campaign commitment if it intends to maintain credibility.
“After taking over, you realise that teachers cannot just go like that without certification… now you are trying to backtrack,” she added.
“He has to cancel it. It is your promise. Otherwise, those you promised are waiting for you,” she said.
The comments come amid ongoing debate over teacher licensure exams in Ghana, with the government indicating reforms rather than a full cancellation of the system.
In 2023, then-Former President and flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama, vowed to abolish the teacher’s licensure examination if he were elected President in the 2024 polls.
Mr. Mahama criticised the concept, deeming it poorly thought-through, and expressed concerns about requiring students from Colleges of Education to undergo an additional test before practising.
The National Teaching Council (NTC), an agency under the Ministry of Education in 2018 introduced the Teacher Licensure Examination aimed at licensing teachers who teach or want to teach in public pre-tertiary schools in the country.
According to the NTC, the purpose of the licensure examination is to enable qualified teachers to acquire a professional license to ply their trade.
However, speaking at a town hall meeting at Wenchi in the Bono Region, the president indicated, “This is unnecessary. In our next administration, we will cancel the licensure exams.”
Mr. Mahama said he will subsequently put in place measures to ensure that all individuals who pass through the colleges of education are professionals by the time of their graduation.
He emphasised that he had the interests of teachers at heart; for this reason, although he had previously captured this in the 2020 manifesto, it will also be captured in his current manifesto.
Then, Former President Mahama was on a “Building Ghana Tour” this month, ahead of the 2024 general elections.
The tour includes town hall meetings, community outreach schemes, engagements with diverse communities, and with various stakeholders across the country.
The “Building Ghana Tour” also highlighted some of Mahama’s values, such as active citizen participation and advocacy for progress, as key to shaping Ghana’s future.
