The government is considering a major shake-up of how teachers are hired — moving recruitment from the Ghana Education Service (GES) headquarters in Accra to local assemblies across the country.
Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu dropped the news on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, June 18. He said President John Dramani Mahama is looking at a new decentralisation approach that could change who gets to decide which teacher goes where.
“The president is considering, but it's subject to his discussion and conclusion,” Iddrisu told lawmakers.
Under the proposed plan, the government may also increase the District Assembly Common Fund allocation from the current 5% to 7.5%. The president's thinking, according to the minister, is that 1% of that increased fund should go to a localised education support division within the assemblies to handle teacher recruitment.
“The assemblies should be those recruiting teachers and not the headquarters at GES,” Iddrisu said.
Another 1% of the proposed allocation would be directed to health, but Iddrisu stressed that the idea is still being discussed and nothing has been finalised.
The minister argued that decentralising recruitment could improve accountability, especially when it comes to disciplining teachers. He questioned why disciplinary matters that happen at the local level always have to be handled at GES headquarters.
Iddrisu also addressed the messy issue of teacher transfers, postings, and secondments. He admitted that some of the problems in managing the system come from lawmakers themselves.
“Mr. Speaker, again, some of these problems are created by our own demands,” he said, explaining that MPs often make requests like “I want this person transferred. I want this person moved. I want this secondment to be done,” making the whole process difficult to manage.
The government has taken note of these concerns and is engaging MPs on the matter, he added.
On the current state of teacher recruitment, Iddrisu disclosed that although the government has limited clearance to recruit right now, there are still vacancies across the country.
If the plan goes through, it would be a significant shift from the current centralised system. The GES headquarters in Accra handles all recruitment, transfers, and disciplinary actions for public school teachers nationwide. Local government officials and education directors have long complained that the centralised system is slow and doesn't reflect local needs.
But the proposal is still at the discussion stage. The president hasn't made a final decision, and any changes would require parliamentary approval, especially the increase in the Common Fund allocation.
For now, teachers and education officials across the country will be watching closely to see if the government follows through on what could be one of the biggest changes to Ghana's education administration in years.