Cancellation of teacher trainee ‘allawa’ was a presidential decision not ministerial; Naana innocent – NDC

By:brightwebtv.com nana Asare barimah

Sammy Gyamfi

John Mahama’s running mate Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang did not cancel teacher training allowance during her reign as Education Minister, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said.

Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, 8 July 2020, National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi said the claim by the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) that Prof Opoku-Agyemang “cancelled teacher trainee allowance is not true, the decision was a cabinet decision and not a ministerial decision”.

Prof Opoku-Agyemang has been accused especially by the NPP and some groups of spearheading the erstwhile Mahama administration’s decision to cancel the teacher-trainee allowance and will do the same if she becomes the Vice President of the country if John Mahama wins the December elections this year.

Members of the Concerned Teacher and Trainee Nurses Associationfor example have called on their colleagues to vote against her because she is a threat to their allowance which was restored by President Akufo-Addo when he won the 2016 elections.

But reacting to these accusations against the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Mr Gyamfi said NDC flagbearer John Mahama takes full responsibility for cancelling the allowance, therefore, the NPP propaganda against Prof Opoku-Agyemang will not wash.

He noted that the NPP deceived Ghanaians when they said they will fully restore the allowance.

“The sad reality today is that instead of the full restoration of the allowance as was promised by President Akufo-Addo and the NPP, teacher trainees are being served with a partial restoration of the allowances which is being paid in a rather very erratic manner and for only eight months instead of 12 months as was the case before the convention,” said Mr Gyamfi.

He continued: “In fact, our checks this morning shows that the Akufo-Addo government hasn’t paid teacher trainees since February 2020 and so the allowances they claim to have restored is currently in arrears for over four months.

“To add insult to injury, the Akufo-Addo government has increased the school fees of teacher trainees and introduced feeding fees which used to be free under the Mahama government. Worse of it all is the abolishment of the automatic employment of teachers and the introduction of a needless licensure exam…”

Source: classfmonline.com/