Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, has disclosed that Ghana is currently grappling with a severe teacher shortage, with about 30,000 classrooms operating without teachers due to the government’s failure to recruit new teachers in 2025.
Speaking on Channel One TV on Tuesday, January 13, while assessing the one-year performance of President John Dramani Mahama, he said the lack of recruitment has had a direct impact on basic education, leaving many pupils without proper instruction and increasing the risk of school dropouts.
He explained that the education sector requires at least 15,000 new teachers each year to maintain balance in the system, accounting for poor distribution and annual attrition.
However, he noted that no teachers were recruited in 2025, worsening an already strained situation.
“As a result, we now have not less than 30,000 classrooms without teachers, and the number could be higher,” he stated, warning that the gap is undermining teaching and learning nationwide.
He called for the immediate recruitment of at least 30,000 teachers, particularly into basic schools, and urged the government to ensure postings are made to areas where they are most needed.
“The government promised to implement a policy under which teachers who accept postings to deprived areas will be given allowances, and such incentives must go hand in hand with the deployment of teachers to those areas,” he said.
Government plan
In June 2025, the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, announced that the government intends to recruit 50,000 teachers and 10,000 non-teaching staff in 2025.
This recruitment exercise, he said, formed part of a broader effort to fortify the education sector. Haruna Iddrisu made this disclosure while addressing Parliament on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.
According to him, sufficient provisions have been made in the 2025 national budget to support this large- scale recruitment. However, the recruitments were carried out as promised.
The education minister was responding to concerns raised by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who had claimed that teachers who recently picketed at the Ghana Education Service (GES) over unpaid salaries were manhandled.
The Minister refuted these claims, asserting that the teachers were not mishandled. He assured the House that the government remains committed to addressing all outstanding issues.
He further stated that authorities will soon begin recruiting new teaching and non-teaching staff.
“This morning, I met with Bafour Eric, and I will soon share the details with the public. We discussed the matter, and he indicated to me that clearance was received in May. They were expected to start work in August, but began in September.
“Naturally, by December 31, the clearance issued by the Finance Ministry had expired, and they can only proceed with a renewed clearance, which is what I am currently awaiting. Let them be assured.
“Mr. Speaker, as I have assured this House, 50,000 teachers will be recruited, along with 10,000 non- teaching staff. Adequate provision was made for this in the 2025 budget, he added.
CUTT
The Coalition of Unemployed Trained Teachers (CUTT), comprising 2023 graduates from all 46 accredited Public Colleges of Education in Ghana, has issued a passionate appeal to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education, and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to take urgent action to recruit them.
In its statement, CUTT highlighted the frustration and growing hardship its members face. Despite completing the four-year Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) programme, passing the Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination (GTLE), and completing their mandatory National Service in February 2025, they remain unemployed.
“The continued silence from authorities is causing severe financial, emotional, and psychological hardship to our members nationwide,” the statement read. “We are ready and willing to serve, yet the state continues to waste the skills and resources invested in our professional training.
