You Can't Cancel National Service---TTA Warns Mahama

A group calling itself Teachers and Trainees Advocacy (TTA) has sent a strong warning to Political Parties to be mindful of certain campaign promises they make on platforms in their quest to win power.

According to the group, it is unhappy about the recent utterance made by Former Mahama during NDC's launch of their fundraising event in Accra.

Addressing the media, National Convernor, Patrick Kakari Antwi said "Trainees across the length and breadth of Ghana are tired of the chunk of promises that are perpetuated by political parties especially in times they want to clinch unto power. The field of education that seeks to nuture future teachers is ironically not being taken serious as its always interspersed with frequent establishment and cancellation of educational policies by governments that preside over the country."

He added that the state of Teacher Trainees are better with the introduction of the mandatory National Service and Licensure Exam as the two key processes have giantly elevated their status and standard from the University Colleges of Education in the country.

The group says since it is the same National Service that help the Former Head of State to meet his wife, Lordina Mahama, it will not sit and tolerate such shenanigans anymore.

Below is the full copy of press release:

TEACHERS AND TRAINEES ADVOCACY (TTA) REJECTS CANCELLATION OF NATIONAL SERVICE AND LICENSURE EXAM PROMISES FROM THE NDCs FLAGBEARER; H.E. JOHN DRAMANI MAHAMA.

Teacher Trainees across the length and breadth of Ghana are tired of the chunk of promises that are perpetuated by political parties especially in times they want to clinch unto power. The field of education that seeks to nuture future teachers is ironically not being taken serious as its always interspersed with frequent establishment and cancellation of educational policies by governments that preside over the country.

We woke up to read from story headlines, that the leader and flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC); H.E John Dramani Mahama in his speeh during the launch of their fundraising event in Accra , made some campaign promises with which some of those promises have to do with the cancellation of the mandatory National Service, Licensing of College of education graduates and ensuring direct postings of Newly Trained Teachers from the various University Colleges of Education and we see this move to be highly deleterious and imperil to the future of our teacher trainees whiles the latter is untrue.

The Teachers and Trainees Advocacy wants to state with no unsureness that the state of our Teacher Trainees is better with the introduction of the mandatory National Service and Licensure Exam as these two key processes have giantly elevated the status and the standard of teacher trainees from the University Colleges of Education in the country.

Concerned citizens of Ghana will bare us out of the essentiality of undergoing National Service as a graduate from a tertiary institution in Ghana and Teacher Trainees are grateful to the National Service Scheme Secretariat for enrolling us unto the scheme directly after completing college when the transition from a non-fully fledged tertiary institution to a fully fledged tertiary institution of the various Colleges of Education in the country.

In accordance with the Colleges Act ( Act 487, 2012 ); all Colleges of Education are to be tertiary status and that is what we are seeing today as all pubic Teacher Training Institutions are now metamorphosed into University Colleges of Education and currently, now every graduate from such institutions are certified with a degree and not diploma just as in the case of our sister universities ( e.g. University of Education, Winneba [UEW] and University of Cape Coast [UCC, University of Ghana, KNUST,etc ).

Before the upgrading of these Colleges of Education to University Colleges of Education, there was a board of governors that were governing these Colleges of Education and they were under the jurisdiction of the Ghana Education Service ( GES ) and as we speak now, the name " board of governors " in the Colleges of Education has taken wings of us as we now have a well institutionalized governing Council in the various University Colleges of Education under the jurisdiction of the National Council for Tertiary Education ( NCTE ) just like other renowned univeristies in Ghana.

The National Service Scheme which started in 1973 now operates under Act 426 (of 1980) programme and it stipulates clearly that it is a compulsory one-year service required of all citizens of Ghana who are 18 years and above, at the time of deployment. Meaning, that every single Ghanaian who is 18 years and beyond and has graduated from any tertiary institution eg. any of the University Colleges of Education and all other public and private University is required to undergo the National Service. So where is the case of its cancellation as promised by the former President; HE. John Dramani Mahama and his other party members?

His Excellency the Former President, John Dramani Mahama Attended Accra Achimota Primary School, had his secondary education at Tamale Ghana Secondary School and then forwarded to University of Ghana; Legon and there after returned to his fomer school; Tamale Ghana Secondary School to do his National Service as a teacher where he even met his wife Lordina Mahama. Today he is promising to abolish the National Service that gave him a wife and qualified him to rise through the political ranks to become President of the state from 24th July 2012 to 7th January 2017. We shan't tolerate such shenanigans anymore.

We are today sending a strong message to them, that Teachers will never remain teachers forever. We love to be Teachers of substance and standards. We love to teach with great ethusiasm of undergoing all neccessary transitions in the education sector to enhance our quality of service to mankind. Some of us our devinely destined for other job opportunities and we won't sit down aloof and allow his " abolishing spree " to endanger the well institutionalised National Service that will eventually make our dreams come true of also becoming the Members of Parliament, Ministers, etc that equally helped him to be who he is today.

It is also indispensable to make the world be aware, that last year, the Ministry of Education (MOE), Ghana Education Service (GES), and National Service Scheme (NSS), Teachers and Trainees Advocacy (TTA), Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana (TTAG) undersigned an agreement of ensuring a direct and automatic postings for all Newly Trained Teachers who will successfully finish their one year mandatory National Service and this year, all Newly Trained Teachers that underwent the Service have been posted by the Ghana Education Service regardless the few hiccups that's being resolved currently.

The National Service has come to stay with we the Newly Trained Teachers from the Colleges of Education, and so be it.

The Licensing exam which is written by all professionals, i.e Law Students, Student Nurses, Medical Students, etc is not different from what teacher trainees are mandated to write after their 3 or 4-year diploma or degree program in college. The licensure exam was implemented 2 years ago by the incumbent government through the National Teaching Council to help enhance the professionalism of teachers. Looking at the statistics from the results published from the NTC for 2 years now, it's conspicuous that trainee teachers are performing better and are equally happy for its implementation.

It is predominant to make it known to the world that as it were, direct and automatic postings of qualified Newly Trained Teachers from the various University Colleges of Education are still being done by the Ministry of Education and has not been cancelled. Therefore we find it arrantly disturbing when Mr. John Dramani Mahama makes it appear that such privileges are stripped off Newly Trained Teachers as he continues voicing out on different platforms of "ensuring direct postings" when he is voted into office in 2021.

Ending it all, we want to reiterate and make it categorically clear to all political parties entering into this year's elections with promises of cancelling these two policies to desist from it since we are very comfortable and would want to study with great tranquillity free of emotional and psychological disturbances of such political talks and promises.

Thank you.