“We Shot Ourselves in the Foot” — Former GNAT General Secretary Worried Over 42,000j Unqualified Teachers

Former General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, David Ofori Acheampong, has expressed concern over reports that about 42,000 unqualified teachers are currently in Ghana’s classrooms, warning that the situation poses a serious challenge to the country’s education sector.

Speaking on Kessben TV’s Digest programme, Mr. Acheampong stated that effective teaching requires both academic and professional knowledge, stressing that this informed the introduction of the teacher licensure examination under the previous administration.

According to him, poor public education and stakeholder engagement on educational policies have contributed to misconceptions and challenges surrounding the licensure system.

“We have shot ourselves in the foot because when there is an issue with a policy, we don’t take time as a country to explain it properly to citizens and stakeholders,” he said.

He noted that rather than dismissing the affected teachers, the government and employers should organize professional training programmes to equip them with the necessary teaching skills and competencies.

Mr. Acheampong cautioned that laying off thousands of teachers could create serious disruptions within the educational sector, emphasizing that capacity building remains the best option.

“I think it’s a problem because teachers need to have the requisite professional knowledge in teaching so people would not assume that those teachers don’t know anything,” he added.

The comments come amid ongoing national discussions about teacher professionalism, standards in education as about 42,000, teachers in Ghana’s classrooms are reported to be unqualified.