From Diploma to Degree: Time for Ghana to Rethink Teacher Upgrading

Study leave with pay has existed in Ghana for many years and gives teachers an opportunity to upgrade their academic qualifications while continuing to receive their salaries. I am not against study leave with pay. Investing in teachers is an investment in the education system. However, like any longstanding policy, it deserves periodic review to ensure that it remains relevant, efficient, and responsive to current realities.

One issue that deserves serious attention is the pathway for teachers with a Diploma in Education who want to pursue a Bachelor's degree in Education. Why should teachers be required to start from Level 100 after already completing three years of tertiary teacher education at the College of Education? This raises a fundamental question: Are we recognizing what these teachers have already learned, or are we making them repeat education they have already received?

The Seven-Year Question
A teacher who completes a three-year Diploma in Education has already spent three years in tertiary education, completed numerous courses and examinations, and received professional teacher training. If that teacher then enters a four-year bachelor's degree program from Level 100, they could spend seven years in tertiary education moving from a diploma to a bachelor's degree. The issue is not whether teachers should upgrade. The issue is whether all four additional years are necessary when some diploma courses may substantially overlap with courses in the degree program.

This is where credit transfer and recognition of prior learning become important.

If a teacher has already successfully completed a course and the university determines that it is substantially equivalent in content, learning outcomes, credit hours, and assessment standards to a degree course, why should the teacher automatically take it again? This is not about lowering academic standards. It is about assessing what the teacher already knows and determining what the teacher still needs to learn. Universities can compare diploma and degree curricula and grant credit or exemptions where there is genuine equivalence. Where courses are different, the teacher should take them.

The objective should be specialization, not repetition.

For example, if a diploma holder pursuing Geography, Economics, or Mathematics has already completed general education courses such as educational psychology, guidance and counseling, classroom management and assessment, equivalent courses should be assessed for transfer rather than automatically repeated. More attention can then be given to advanced and specialized courses.

What About Classroom Experience?
Academic qualifications are not the only form of learning teachers acquire.

A teacher with several years of classroom experience has developed practical skills in classroom management, lesson planning, assessment, curriculum implementation, student behavior, differentiated instruction, and engagement with parents and communities. I am not suggesting that work experience should automatically replace academic courses. Professional experience and academic learning are not identical. However, relevant professional experience should be considered through a structured system of recognition of prior learning and competency assessment.

A teacher should not always be treated as though they are starting from zero simply because they have entered another academic program. Other higher education systems consider relevant professional experience in admissions and academic progression. Universities can examine how professional experience can appropriately contribute to admission, advanced standing, practical components, or other forms of progression.

The Economic Argument
This issue is also about public resources. Study leave with pay means that a teacher is away from the classroom to pursue further education while continuing to receive a salary. There is a legitimate public benefit because the government is investing in teachers' human capital.

But that investment should produce the greatest possible return. If a teacher could complete a properly assessed top-up program in two years because substantial portions of the diploma have already been recognized, rather than spending four years repeating courses, the teacher could potentially return to the classroom two years earlier.

Those two years have economic value. The government could have the teacher back in the classroom, teaching students, contributing to school activities, and applying the upgraded knowledge and skills. Therefore, the issue is not simply how much government spends on study leave. It is whether government is receiving the best possible return on that investment.

Time is also a scarce resource. A teacher who spends three years completing a diploma and another four years completing a degree has invested seven years in tertiary education. If a more efficient pathway can achieve the same academic objective without compromising standards, that possibility deserves serious consideration.

Why Not a Structured Top-Up System?
Technical universities offer three-year Higher National Diploma programs, and graduates in relevant fields can progress through top-up arrangements to obtain bachelor's degrees.

This raises an important question: Why should teachers who have completed three years of relevant tertiary education necessarily start a four-year degree from Level 100 when a properly assessed credit-transfer or top-up pathway may be possible?

Where prior learning is equivalent, it should be recognized. Where it is not, the teacher should complete the required courses.

A Policy That Needs Review
Study leave with pay should not be treated as a policy that cannot evolve. Teacher qualifications, universities, workforce needs, and government fiscal pressures have changed. The policy should therefore be reviewed to determine how it can produce better outcomes for teachers, students, universities, and government.

A modern approach could include:
- Credit transfer for equivalent courses.
- Clear curriculum mapping between diploma and bachelor's programs.

- Exemptions from courses already successfully completed.

- Greater emphasis on advanced and specialized courses.

I humbly call on Ghana Education Service, Ministry of Education and Universities to work together to examine the entire study leave with pay.

Instead of asking only, "How many years must this teacher spend in university?", the system should ask: «What has this teacher already studied? What does the teacher already know? And what does the teacher actually need to learn next?»

That would create a more rational and efficient pathway for teacher development. This is not an argument against universities, academic standards, degree programs, or study leave with pay. It is an argument for efficiency and recognition.

Study leave with pay can remain an important investment in Ghana's teachers, but the system should ensure that the investment produces maximum value. The goal should be to make every year of teacher education meaningful, relevant, productive, and economically justified. For Ghana, this is not merely a teacher welfare issue. It is a human-capital, public-finance, and education-policy issue that deserves serious national discussion.

By: Stephen Agbemasiku