1.9 Teachers

The promotion of quality teaching and learning has important implications for restructuring the current system of initial teacher education in Ghana. Improved quality in teaching and learning, with subsequent increased levels of achievement at the basic school level, calls for a certain kind of teacher who is capable of delivering effectively revised school curricula and promoting efficient learning in schools. The MOE identified inadequate numbers of trained and qualified teachers, and ineffective initial teacher training provided by the TTCs, as key factors contributing to the poor level of pupil achievement.⁸ According to the MOE (1993:23),

[The TTCs] are inefficient in producing effective teachers since the trainees and the tutors have so little exposure to actual schools and classrooms, and academic content is taught and tested above practical teaching methodology. The college curriculum also does not differentiate sufficiently between primary and JSS methodology.

⁸ The MOE (1994:16-17) argues that although private schools in Accra and Kumasi have both higher pupil-ratios (averaging over 40:1), and only 25 per cent trained teachers, pupils in these private schools perform better than their counterparts in the public schools. This argument, however, appears based on raw test results, unadjusted for the socio-economic background of pupils and other school factors.

Some of the practices in training colleges that are believed to have contributed to the poor performance of trained teachers in schools with an attendant effect on the academic performances of pupils are summarised as follows:

· Emphasis on academic content in the training programme above training in practical teaching.

· Lack of exposure to actual schools and work in the classrooms.

· Inadequate of actual training in classroom methodology.

· Lack of content and opportunity for the education and training of teachers to prepare them for handling the new directions and management issues which are some of the outcomes of the education reform programme, e.g. teaching large classes and multi-grade teaching.

Another dimension of the problem of quality of teaching and learning is the proportion of untrained teachers (defined as those teachers who have not completed a pre-service training course at a Teacher Training College) in basic schools. In 1996 the number of teachers at the public primary level was 62,634 and 38,016 in public junior secondary schools (MOE, 1999:6).

Table 1.14: Total and percentage of trained and untrained teachers at primary level (public schools), 1986-94

year	total	trained		untrained		pupil-teacher ratio	pupil-trained teacher ratio
		total	%	total	%
1986/87	64,359	35,912	55.8	28,447	44.2	22.8	40.9
1987/88	63,367	36,689	57.9	26,678	42.1	23.3	40.2
1988/89	62,670	37,790	60.3	24,880	39.7	25.5	42.3
1989/90	62,859	41,738	66.4	21,121	33.6	27.1	40.8
1990/91	62,823	41,526	66.1	21,297	33.9	28.7	43.4
1991/92	64,035	46,169	72.1	17,866	27.9	28.1	39.0
1993/94	62,614	47,796	76.3	14,845	23.6	-	-
1995/96	60,607	52,690	86.9	7,917	13.1	-	-

Source: MOE 1994; MOE 1995; TED 1997

Notes:

1) Trained teachers are defined as those teachers who received initial training from a TTC.

2) The total number of untrained teachers includes National Service Personnel working as teachers.

3) In 1991, of the 62,823 teachers in service, 8.8 per cent (5,530) were ‘detached’, i.e. not teaching because they were in administrative posts or on study leave. In 1992, however, a Government policy was introduced to move trained teachers working in administrative posts back into the classroom (Konadu, 1994:39)

Table 1.15: Total and percentage of trained and untrained teachers at JSS level (public schools), 1986-96

year	total	trained		untrained		pupil-teacher ratio	pupil-trained teacher ratio
		total	%	total	%
1986/87	33,443	21,805	65.2	11,638	34.8	18.6	28.5
1987/88	40,528	27,275	67.3	13,253	22.7	15.1	22.4
1988/89	34,584	24,831	71.8	9,753	28.2	17.6	24.5
1989/90	35,262	22,885	64.9	12,377	35.1	17.7	27.3
1990/91	30,708	23,307	75.9	7,401	24.1	18.5	24.4
1991/92	33,351	23,979	71.9	9,372	28.1	17.7	24.6
1992/93	25,386	23,558	92.8	1,828	7.2	-	-
1995/96	29,669	25,782	86.9	3,887	13.1	-	-

Source: MOE 1994; TED 1997

Note: At the time of writing no reference could be found which details the sharp increase of 1992/93 in the number of trained JSS teachers as a percentage of all JSS teachers. It is apparent from the absolute totals, however, that this was due to the sharp drop in the number of untrained JSS teachers in the system rather than a substantial influx of trained JSS teachers.

Total numbers of trained and untrained teachers at the primary and JSS levels are presented in Tables 1.14 and 1.15. In 1989, 66 per cent of primary school teachers were trained, while for the JSS level, the figure was 65 per cent. By 1995, these figures had risen to 87 and 90 per cent, respectively. In line with the objectives of the 1987 education reforms, the total number of untrained teachers at the basic level has steadily decreased, but the latest figures for 1995 suggest that the proportion of untrained teachers remains significant at 13 per cent.

Table 1.14 shows that while the pupil-teacher ratio at the primary level steadily increased from 23:1 in 1986/87 to 28:1 in 1991/92, the pupil-trained teacher ratio has remained fairly constant, fluctuating around 40:1. Thus by 1991/92, although a primary teacher was more likely to be trained, on average he or she taught larger classes. Data presented in Table 1.15 indicates that at the JSS level the pupil-teacher ratio fell from 18.6 in 1986/87 to 17.7 by 1991/92, and the pupil-trained teacher ratio fell from 28.5 to 24.6. By 1991/92, JSS teachers were more likely to be trained and teach fewer pupils. Recent data from MOE estimates pupil-teacher ratios at the primary and JSS levels as 32.4 and 18.3, respectively for 1996 (MOE, 1999:6).

Konadu (1994:36) notes that in 1990/91, the Ghana Education Service (GES) deployed 4,727 newly qualified teachers (NQTs) to posts in primary and JSS schools. In 1991/92, 9183 NQTs were deployed. Using these figures together with data presented in Tables 1.14 and 1.15, the rate of attrition among trained teachers for the academic years 1990/91 and 1991/92 is calculated as 7.0 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively.⁹ Reports suggest the rate of annual trained teacher attrition is high due to inadequate remuneration, lack of promotional prospects, and low social status of teaching (Bame, 1991; World Bank, 1996:5). No recent data is available on the annual rate of teacher attrition. Research needs to be carried out to find out how long newly trained teachers stay in the profession and why those who choose to leave do so (e.g. relatively low status and/or remuneration, retirement, HIV/AIDS). These are issues requiring further exploration through policy research to inform teacher-posting policy and thereby ensure that projections of teacher requirements can be realistically met.

⁹ Data on NQT deployment disaggregated by level of schooling, i.e. primary and JSS, were not available at the time of writing.

Table 1.16 presents data showing the numbers of trained and untrained teachers in primary schools across the ten regions of Ghana in 1993. The more remote and disadvantaged regions of Western, Brong-Ahafo and Northern, have the highest proportion of untrained to trained teachers at the primary level.¹⁰ It is clear that significant regional disparities exist. These are partly due to absolute resource limitations but can be attributed largely to the process of resource distribution which favours the more economically advantaged areas of the country (World Bank, 1996:8). The problem is exacerbated by the significant proportion of trained teachers that refuse postings to the more economically deprived areas of the country. Officials in the Teacher Education Directorate (TED) of the MOE point out that there is evidence that some urban districts have more trained teachers than they require, and yet in each year some of these urban districts declare shortages in teachers.

¹⁰ Data on the proportion of trained to untrained JSS teachers by region were not available.

Table 1.16: Distribution of trained and untrained teachers at primary level (public schools) by region, 1993/94

region	trained		untrained		total
	number	%	number	%
Ashanti	8,543	81.1	1,993	18.9	10,536
Brong Ahafo	4,750	62.2	2,885	37.8	7,635
Central	4,456	74.1	1,557	25.9	6,013
Eastern	8,377	79.5	2,164	20.5	10,541
Gt. Accra	4,541	95.8	199	4.2	4,740
Northern	3,366	66.1	1,724	33.9	5,090
Upper East	1,622	86.8	247	13.2	1,869
Upper West	1,552	97.8	35	2.2	1,587
Volta	6,376	86.5	991	13.5	7,367
Western	4,186	57.8	3,050	42.2	7,236
Total	47,769	76.3	14,845	23.7	62,614

Source: adapted from MOE 1995:14

Table 1.17 shows that there are districts in the country where up to 75 per cent of teachers remain untrained.

Table 1.17: Trained Teachers Characteristics by Neediest Districts

District	% of Total
Juabesobia	25.38
Tolon-Gunbugu	28.33
Afram Plains	32.26
Sene	38.89
Savelugunan	39.50
Twifu-Heman	42.30
East Gonja	43.63
Mpohor Wassa	45.27
Wassa-Amenfi	46.34
Asunafo	46.61
Atebubu	46.69
Sefwi-Wiaso	48.53
Zabuzugutatale	49.21
Adansi East	49.25
Amansie West	49.78

Source: Extracted from World Bank Report, 1996

It is interesting to note that private schools often have the least number of trained teachers and yet from the PREP CRT results such schools out-perform their counterparts in the public schools. Available statistics from the PBME Division of the Ministry of Education show that in 1993, for example, the percentage of trained teachers in the public primary schools was 73.3 per cent, while in the private primary schools the percentage of trained teachers was only 28.6 per cent. This obviously raises questions about the policy of increasing trained teachers in schools with the aim to promote greater achievements in pupil learning outcomes. School information data collected as part of the MOE/PREP criterion-referenced tests administration shows that the private schools have a clear advantage over the public schools in the following respects:

· Greater control and supervision of teachers
· Effective School Management Board
· Interest of parents in what their children learn
· Open days which bring teachers, parents and children together
· Availability of proportionately more instructional materials
(MOE/PREP 1996:28)

Thus, it would appear that effective school management systems, community participation in school development and increased instructional materials in schools are crucial for schools to enhance pupil learning outcomes, and that merely increasing the percentage of trained teachers without such supportive structures will not yield the desired results.

Nevertheless, the general lack of correspondence between trained teacher availability in schools and pupil performance as revealed by the CRT results raises questions about the quality of teachers and their ability to effect improvements in pupil learning. If in real terms the contribution from their training is minimal then it is necessary to re-examine the training curriculum of TTCs to make it perhaps more responsive to the current problems of pupil learning achievement, lack of instructional materials and ineffective school management systems. Besides, it will inform the policy of replacing ‘untrained’ teachers with trained ones and whether time and money should be spent on training the ‘untrained’ or providing the necessary management support system for all categories of teachers in schools to deliver quality learning. Ultimately, this would have important implications for the policy of teacher demand and supply.