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TEACHER EXODUS LOOMING?

 

Within the past five years or so many nurses and doctors have left Ghana for the United Kingdom to work. This is mainly due to obvious reasons – poor working conditions in Ghana. The effects of this exodus could be very serious if not tackled with the urgency it requires. Nurses and doctors are human and would always want better working conditions especially when their current condition and remuneration is nothing to write home about.

Another group of people with very poor working conditions if not the poorest is teachers. Many teachers I know have been looking for ways to leave the country just like the nurses and doctors. Even though some few Ghanaian teachers have been able to migrate to teach in countries like China and Vietnam, the UK has always been the ideal destination for most Ghanaians.

One barrier blocking most teachers from migrating to the UK to teach is how to acquire a QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) right here in Ghana. The QTS is the license a teacher needs to acquire to teach in most UK schools. In years gone by, teachers from Ghana were unable to apply for the QTS unlike nurses who could apply for their equivalence, the CBT right here in Ghana.

The good news is that teachers in Ghana can now apply for the QTS from February 1st 2023 as indicated on uk.gov, the official website of the UK government.

This move has become very necessary because there is a shortage of teachers in the UK. This would make it possible for schools in the UK to recruit qualified teacher from Ghana just like how hospitals in the UK are recruiting nurses from Ghana.

Could this move by the UK government lead to a teacher exodus in Ghana? Your guess is as good as mine.



By Edinam Ahiably-Kumordjie

predahku@gmail.com

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