MoE breaks silence on nursing, CoE trainees allowance revocation

The Ministry of Education (MoE) following the claim nursing and College of Education (CoE) trainees allowance will be cancelled next academic year has urged students and members of the general public to disregard any such allegation.

‘The statement attributed to the Minister for Education, Hon. Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum regarding the cancellation of allowances for teachers and nursing students is categorically false and unfounded,’ MoE said in a press release.

The release signed by a spokesperson for the Education Ministry, Kwasi Kwarteng and copied to AcademicWeek.com said the Ministry in Charge of Education has no intentions to terminate the nursing and teacher trainees’ allowances.

“We understand the importance of supporting and prioritizing the training of teachers, and the government remains committed to providing necessary financial assistance in these areas

We urge the public to rely on accurate and verified information from official sources such as the Ministry of Education, government press releases, and trusted news outlets,” the Education Ministry statement dated July 14, 2023, stated.

In a related story, the government has assured that the allowance paid to trainees in public nursing training institutions and Colleges of Education will be scrapped amid the International Monetary Fund (IMF) $3 billion bailout deal.

In a speech read on behalf of President Akufo-Addo at the 175th Anniversary of the Presbyterian College of Education, the health and education allowance was tagged as a social intervention program strongly protected during the negotiation with IMF for the loan.

“I know that the difficulty in the economic landscape which has resulted in the governments signing up for a program with International Monitory Fund may cause you some concern. But none of the allowances of the teaching profession will be affected by our program with IMF

There were certain things which are not to be touched and the teacher’s allowance was one of such protected allowance. The difficulty in prompt payment is coming from our own mobilization of resources and not the IMF once you have it you can be sure that teachers’ allowances and the rest of it will be honoured appropriately,” the speech noted.

Senior Presidential Advisor Yaw Osafo-Maafo who read the speech on behalf of President Nana Addo Dankwa expressed the commitment of the government to the teacher education and profession to ensure quality education.