No More Teacher Licensure Exams in Ghana as Education Minister Announces New Certification System

The Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has announced that the government plans to phase out the current teacher licensure examination and integrate the assessment into the final-year training of students in universities and colleges of education.

According to the minister, the move is aimed at streamlining the teacher certification process while ensuring that trainee teachers are assessed before completing their academic programmes.

“We said we will incorporate the licensure examination into the final-year training of universities and colleges of education, and that is what we are doing,” Mr. Iddrisu explained.

However, he noted that a special arrangement had recently been granted to the University of Ghana after the institution requested permission to organise a licensure examination for a specific group of graduates who had already completed their education programmes.

“The University of Ghana had a peculiar case and wrote to the Ministry to grant them exemption to conduct a licensure examination for a certain category of persons who had graduated in education,” he said.

Despite this temporary arrangement, the minister made it clear that the licensure examination in its current form will eventually be discontinued.

“But there will be an end to the licensure exams. We are not going to continue it as government,” he stated.

Concerns Over Declining Standards

Mr. Iddrisu also expressed concern about declining professional standards in the education sector after reviewing recent examination results.

“Our professional standards are falling. I saw some examination results and I was very concerned, the standard was poor and not the best,” he said.

He emphasised the need to strengthen teacher professionalism through continuous training, improved motivation, and better working conditions.

“Continuous training of teachers, motivation and morale, and getting teachers decent accommodation especially those who accept postings to rural areas are critical,” he stressed.

Incentives for Rural Teachers

As part of efforts to improve teacher welfare and attract educators to underserved communities, the minister revealed that teachers who accept rural postings will benefit from a 20 percent incentive promised by President John Mahama.

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In addition, the government is advancing plans under the Teacher Dabre initiative to provide large-scale housing for teachers across the country.

“We are trying to combine resources from the District Assemblies Common Fund and other funding sources to get about 50,000 housing units going,” Mr. Iddrisu disclosed.

He added that the government intends to submit a joint Cabinet memorandum involving the Ministries of Finance, Local Government and Education to coordinate funding for the project.

“We will do a Cabinet memo with the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Local Government to see how we combine our efforts to give true meaning to the promise the President gave to Ghanaian teachers,” he said.

Decentralisation of Teacher Recruitment

The minister also revealed that the government is considering a major decentralisation policy for the education sector, currently before Cabinet.

The discussions, he said, have been led by Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang on behalf of President Mahama.

“There is currently a decentralisation policy before Cabinet. His Excellency the Vice President chaired a meeting on behalf of the President to consider it,” Mr. Iddrisu explained.

Under the proposal, the government plans to increase the allocation of the District Assemblies Common Fund from about five percent to six and eventually seven percent, with one percent specifically dedicated to education.

The policy could also allow district assemblies to recruit teachers locally instead of relying solely on the centralised recruitment system through the Ghana Education Service.

“The President is asking the question: why must teachers be recruited by the GES headquarters and not at the district assembly level?” Mr. Iddrisu said.

If implemented, the proposed reforms could significantly reshape teacher certification, welfare, and governance in Ghana’s education sector.

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