The Teacher Trainees Advocacy (TTA) has met and agreed on terms together with other educational bodies on issues purported to be the worries of newly trained teachers.
The Government of Ghana through the education ministry issued a statement not a couple of weeks ago about the government’s intention to enroll newly trained teachers on it’s national service scheme.
This didn’t go well with new teacher trainees and it’s blocs which lead to the many agitations from many Ghanaians.
The Teacher trainees Advocacy has however released a press statement stating the outcome of its meeting with the education ministry and the National Service Scheme.
AFTER THOROUGH SCRUTINY, TTA FINALLY SPEAKS ON THE NATIONAL SERVICE SCHEME ON NEWLY TRAINED TEACHERS.
Warm greetings from the leadership to all Newly Trained Teachers and Teacher Trainees across the length and breadth of the Country. We are well aware of the degree of suspense and confusion Newly Trained Teachers have been placed under, due to the various release of press statements and other information from some individuals. It was very knotty for the Advocacy Team to officially publish any statement for the expose` of the Newly trained teachers at that material moment since we stand for nothing but the truth and wouldn’t want to misinform anyone with any skeptical information.
Moreover, we are being seriously emphatic on debunking the issue of false accusations of partisan politics in relation with the struggle to realize the hopes of Newly Trained Teachers as we engaged the minister of Education and the leaders of NTC, NSS and GES and every information in this statement is unadulterated and the absolutely true.
Moving onto the substantive information, on Tuesday,30th October 2018, the Minister of Education scheduled a meeting with the leadership of Teachers and Trainees Advocacy (TTA), Teacher Trainees’ Association of Ghana (TTAG) and the Coailtion of Newly Trained Teachers (CNTT) which was purported to discuss the issues surrounding the National Service Scheme on Newly Trained Teachers for the very first time. Truth to be told, It was conspicuous on our faces and reactions that we were all not enthused at all with the impending policy until the briefing and explanations were comprehensively given by the minister of Education, Hon Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh and these are the explanations he genuinely gave;
1. National service certificate is important in the life of every post graduate student as it is required in every employment agency and appointment to leadership positions in the public sector.
2. The NSS will help create more spaces for mass employment or permanent postings. This is because the year group just behind the current Newly Trained Teachers will also follow suit in embarking on the National Service and some teachers already on the field will also go on pension. This clearly indicates permanent postings shouldn’t be a worry.
3. Times have changed and when there is any new policy, it must definitely start from a particular year group. We shouldn’t suggest it commences with the trainees in the final year which will in turn be an educational albatross hanging around the necks of this current Newly Trained Teachers as they have the opportunity now to secure a National Service Certificate.
4. Examination Results of Newly Trained teachers are released by UCC to NTC and NTC will conduct their licensure exam and send the details of those who will pass to GES and collaboratively with NSS,post newly trained teachers for the National Service.
5. Postings will be done by NSS in collaboration with GES and NTC. Meaning that the various districts will provide information on vacancies in their districts to the Ghana Education Service as they will also foward that information to the National Service Secretariate for postings.
6. The National Service postings will also consider those who signed sponsorship forms in districts and post the rest to other places just like the old system.
7. In the same one year, the Induction period or probationary period and the National Service will be done concidentally. In this regard, NSS will recognise them as National Service personnels whiles NTC will also recognize it as probationary or Induction period.
8. Now that NSS has officially commmunicated their information and emphasizing on the law, no Newly Trained Teacher can be posted by GES without doing the National Service. Which is buttressed by the law of the state.
9. The postings that will be done by the National Service Scheme’s Secretariate can be your permanent postings after you are done with your service or apply in another district which is subjected to the discretion of you the individual.
10. No single Newly Trained Teacher who have successfully done the National Service will be denied postings since he ( the minister ) can guarantee that there are enough vacancies in the education sector. He asserted that such persons jobs are well secured and he ( the minister ) should be held up by his words should challenges surface concerning permanent postings after the National Service.
11. After embarking on the National Service successfully, Newly Trained Teachers will have to apply for the permanent postings. He further explicated on it that, there are some people who will finish the service and may decide to change their field of profession to say banking, law, journalism,etc. And such persons may be paid by the government as teachers should the letter of application be frowned upon and district IPPD Coordinators automatically place them on government pay roll. This will engineer to Ghost names in the database of the education sector therefore the letter of application is just a formality to ascertain your presence in the teaching field just as validation of teachers is done every month for teachers their head teachers and Circuit supervisors.
12. ” According to the law, should any post graduate student manage to secure a job without NSS, that particular person will be fined heavily before given the opportunity to do the NSS. ” by the Nss Dep. Director
13. Newly Trained Teachers will be posted to only basic schools and not outside the scope of teaching . And the Minister assured all of us that there is financial clearance available for all Newly Trained teachers who will successfully finish their National Service.
14. The minister gave us two options and the first one is, it’s either he takes off the National Service and Newly Trained Teachers will be posted by GES for the probationary or induction period of one year and then afterwards, taken off the system until each and everyone embarks on the National Service before securing employment in any government basic school which will add up to two years. And the Second option was, the Newly Trained teachers embark on the NSS now which will equally be considered as the induction or probationary period and receive their NSS Certificate which will be in a single year, then finally get posted permanently.
15. Before any Newly Trained teacher can gain full employment, he or she must possess a National Service Certificate and the NTC License.
16. The Minister suggested leaders of the various blocs, thus, TTA,TTAG and CNTT Meet the PRO of the ministry after the meeting to issue out a communique as a resolution which will make a headway.
17.The minister suggested that leaders of the various blocs, meet the various heads of Stakeholders, thus, NSS, GES and NTC for further negotiations the next day.
18. The meeting ended as the leadership of the three blocs, ttag especially, suggested the choice of words like “agreed, negotiated, resolved, etc” that are to be on the communique which was to be issued from the ministry of Education in order to eschew misconceptions and ambiguity in the minds of NewlyTrained teachers and others after its release.We the bloc leaders were given the full discretion to make inputs on what was to be on the communique and what was not to be on the communique before it was released by the ministry of Education.
OUTCOME OF THE MEETING WITH THE DIRECTOR OF THE NSS
On wednesday, 31st October 2018, as the minister suggested , we journeyed our way through to the National Service Scheme Secretariate to meet the director and the deputy director. In the course of the meeting, these are the things that credibly and genuinely transpired there.,
1. 14, 956 names have been given to the NSS by GES to be posted for the service.
2. Index Numbers will be used to generate the NSS pin since that was what was submitted to NSS.
3. Payment of the registeration fee will be made using the pin generated from the NSS Website.
4. Any National ID ( voters ID, Driving license, Passport, SSNIT Card, etc ) excluding NHIS, is required for the registeration. It will be scanned and uploaded to fill the online registeration forms.
5. A New passport picture must be uploaded at where required, and it is considered a criminal act to “crop” pictures on the voter ID and use that instead. Should anyone flaunt this directives will be denied or not granted postings.
6. NSS Postings is strictly 2018/2019 batch of Newly Trained teachers.
7. That notwithstanding, all those who for one or two reasons had referrals in any of the subjects, thus, 2017 and below year groups, and have successsfully reedemed themselves must go to their respective colleges and secure a letter proving that and quickly forward it to the National Service Secretariate to be added to the system.
7. NSS is a mandatory requirement for employment.
7. All Newly Trained teachers who are finding it difficult to access the portal must go to their respective colleges to check and ensure if their Wassce results have been confirmed or not before the NSS postings can be done.
BREAKDOWN OF THE GHC 40.00 CHARGED BY NSS
a. Ghc 20. 00 for the registeration process
b. Ghc 10.00 for National Association of Student Personnel Administrators ( NASPA )
c. Ghc 10. 00 for National Service Scheme Identification Card
8. The deadline for registeration remains 16th November 2018 and postings will be conducted and published on 20th November 2018.
9. National Service Personnels will start their service on 3rd December 2018.
10. First NSS allowance will be paid by the end of December 2018.
11. E-zwich will be used as the mode of payment of the National service allowance.
12. There will be a non- taxable allowance of GHC 559.04 due every Service Personnel monthly.
13. Over 6000 Newly Trained teachers have registered.
TTA is stating with honesty and no equivocation that as at the time we were having the round table discussions at NSS, some of the newly trained teachers that are around Accra were trooping in their numbers to register. We urge all and sundry to take a cue and register as soon as possible to avoid any future disturbances which will eventually lead to unemployment. Please, for those who are unfortunately luring people not to register have already registered and secured their NSS pins pending postings. Do not be deceived and suffer later.
Drawing the curtains on the tireless and efforless work the leadership of TTA , TTAG and Coalition of Newly Trained teachers (CNTT) have executed in holistically clearing out the those brouhaha concerning the National Service Scheme , the three leadership needed to reaffirm the commitment of the Director of the National Service Scheme and his staff members in order not to be dissapointed and betrayed before,during and after the National Service, the leaders of TTA, TTAG and CNTT together with the Director of NSS, Hon. Mustapha Ussif came to a compact and signed an Undertaken and Memorandum of Understanding ( MOU ) to bind the agreement.
This is the true reflection of what has happened as we take cognizance of the great calamity that will befall not only Newly Trained Teachers but parents, family and friends and all citizens in the country should we publicly lie to the world for God knows what reason.
Lastly and Importantly, the Leadership and all members of TTA outrightly disassociate oursleves from any statement or information from TTAG instructing Newly Trained Teachers not to register for the NSS.
We pray for a successful service as we enter the classroom to teach the young ones for national development. Let’s all endeavour to teach with patience and commitment.
Briefly touching on the sit down strike declared by the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana ( CETAG ), we appeal to the government to adhere swiftly to their calls and demands which will help send them back to class to teach the College Students even as first years and continuing students were asked to stay home for an additional one month in preparation for the new degree program starting this year with the first years. Their academic calender is already deficient of one month and cannot be allowed to be futher waned down and wasted away.
Thank you.
Attached is a copy of the undertaken and memorandum of understanding signed and other documents.
Antwi Karikari Patrick Azasu Samuel Atsu
National Convener-TTA, Director of Publicity-TTA (Ag)
Teacher Trainees’ Education Analyst +233540549315
+233249557676/+233502974884
Cc: The Minister of Education
The Minister of State in Charge of Tertiary Education
The Chairperson,Parliamentary Select Committee on Education
The Executive Secretary,NTC
The Chairman,GES Council
The Director General,GES
The Chairperson, PRINCOF
The General Secretary, GNAT
The President, NAGRAT
The President,CCT
The National Secretary, CETAG
The General Secretary,TEWU
The National Teaching Council,NTC
The Ag. Executive Director, NSS
All College Principals
All Students’ AffairsTutors,CoE
The President, NUGS
The President, TTAG
The President, CNTT
All SRC Presidents,CoE
All Media Houses-GH
And OthersMmm