Educational CSOs call for teachers’ recruitment and deployment reform
Educational CSOs call for teachers’ recruitment and deployment reform.
Civil Society Organisations and education-focused NGOs, Northern Network for Education Development (NNED), CBE Alliance, and School for Life, have called for urgent reforms to Ghana’s teacher recruitment and deployment system to address long-standing inequities and improve learning outcomes in rural schools.
According to findings from a 2023 School for Life (SfL) study, 68% of teacher vacancies remain in rural areas, while over 70% of pupils in four out of six districts scored an aggregate of 30 and above in the 2020 BECE — reflecting poor learning outcomes.
Project Manager at School for Life, Zulyadeen Amadu, described the centralised posting system as bureaucratic and ineffective, often influenced by political interference.
The CSOs also recommended a decentralised recruitment system managed by District Education Offices, improved data systems, and better incentives such as rural allowances, housing, and career advancement opportunities for teachers in deprived areas.
They argue that decentralisation will ensure equity, strengthen accountability, and improve teacher retention.
“Once the Ministry of Finance gives financing clearance for the recruitment of teachers, the recruitment and posting of teachers should be done at the district education offices at that local level, they have the local knowledge and experience about the terrain and can therefore better deploy our place teachers where their services are more needed”
