Ghana needs over 3000 teachers for Maths, English and Science

Three thousand and three (3,003) teachers are needed to teach English, Science and Mathematics at both the basic and second cycle  levels in the country, the Ghana Education Service (GES) has stated.

It said while Mathematics needed 1,118 teachers, English needed 1,036 teachers with Science requiring 849 teachers.

This was contained in an analysis on teacher requirements made available to the Daily Graphic by the Head of the Public Relations Unit of the GES, Mr Charles Parker-Allotey.

It showed that 583 teachers were produced for the key subjects, such as English, Mathematics and Science this year, and that the number was woefully inadequate. It indicated that 176 teachers were produced for Mathematics, 171 for English and 236 for Science.

According to the analysis, six other subjects, French, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Technical/Vocational and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) needed 2,968 teachers to teach those subjects at the basic and second cycle levels.

The breakdown is as follows: French, 615 teachers; Physics, 360 teachers; Chemistry, 301 teachers; Biology, 312 teachers; Vocational/Technical, 490 and ICT, 890.

However, 551 teachers were produced for the six subjects this year. They are French, 115; Physics, 12; Chemistry, 46; Biology, 63, Vocational/Technical, 258 and ICT, 57.

Meanwhile, the guidelines for the posting of teachers said teachers for critical subjects of Mathematics, Science, French and English must be posted mainly to teach those subjects in which they had been trained.

Additional subjects, the guidelines said must be supplementary to the specific ones, adding that “master degree holders should be posted to training colleges to teach if and only if their programmes of study are offered in the training colleges”.

The guidelines signed by Samuel Manteaw, Director of the Human Resource Management Division of the GES said “the IPPD Unit should be instructed to stop salaries of teachers who have not reported to their stations after returning from study leave with pay by the end of November”.

“Returns for the 2010 posting from the regions must be submitted to the HRMD by October 15, 2010. Salaries of teachers who will not be at post by October ending will be stopped and they will not be paid any arrears when they resume duty,” the guidelines said.

Vacancies in second cycle schools, the guidelines said, should be filled first before the basic level, adding that the rest of the teachers should be posted to the various schools.

Source: Daily Graphic