Coordinator for the Teacher Trainee Association of Ghana, Alfred Otabil Afful, has stated that the teacher trainee allowance is a lifesaver, and any attempt to scrap it would affect trainees.
He argued that it provides some security to trainees who are financially struggling in school.
Speaking on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, he stated, “The trainee allowance is a lifesaver, and any attempt to abolish it will be disastrous for several trainees.” It provides security for teacher trainees, so we oppose any attempt or suggestion to abolish it.
Alfred Otabil Afful noted that he personally used the allowance to buy textbooks. If the news reports are accurate, we would say it is unfortunate, but we do not want to draw any conclusions, so we will meet with the education minister to interact and understand the rationale behind this proposal.
He revealed that the trainee allowance is Ghc400, with Ghc241 going to the principals of the colleges for feeding teacher trainees.
‘When you do the maths, you’ll see that every trainee is fed Ghc8 per day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That is why the debate over feeding has become so heated. We had asked former Education Minister Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum to increase it, but he was unable.”
He also stated that, despite their upgrades, the various colleges of education have not seen much improvement in the last eight years.
“We want the government to take steps to transform the various educational colleges. The trainee allowance discussion is important, but there are other important issues that we want to address, so when we meet with the minister, we will bring them up, dialogue, and come up with something better for the Colleges of Education.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
