Ghana to finalize arrangement with Jamaica for export of teachers

Ghana is expected to reach an agreement with Jamaica for Ghanaian teachers to be exported to the Caribbean island nation. A delegation from Ghana according to a report will visit Jamaica on August 11 to finalize the arrangements.

The move a Jamaican government official says forms part of an effort to address a critical shortage of educators in the island’s public school system. He said Ghana, along with the Philippines, has shown a strong interest in supplying educators to Jamaica.

Permanent Secretary, Dr. Kasan Troupe disclosed that preliminary discussions have already taken place between the Ghanaian ambassador and the Jamaican Ministry of Education.

“What is interesting with this discussion, colleagues, is that they (the teachers) are interested in working for the same emoluments as we offer to our teachers in Jamaica,” Dr. Troupe stated.

The Ghanaian teachers to be exported to the Island nation have reportedly agreed to work for the same salaries as local Jamaican educators to ensure that schools are fully staffed for the upcoming academic year.

Dr. Troupe emphasized that while the international recruitment efforts are ongoing, Jamaican schools are not being mandated to hire foreign teachers but are being given additional options to ensure adequate staffing.

“Our responsibility as a ministry is to provide options for our principals… We are not forcing, but our schools must have options as they try to make sure their staff members are in place for the new academic year,” she explained.

In a related development, the management of the National Service Scheme (NSS) says it will soon deploy personnel to countries like the United Kingdom and the United States to undertake their mandatory national service.

“Every single programme and project undertaken by NSS must align with national priorities. For instance, personnel will be deployed and redeployed in areas agreed upon annually by the government and the NSS

The NSS cannot limit itself to Ghana alone. We have stayed local for too long. National service is a global concept. We are looking to integrate our processes with those of other countries, allowing for personnel exchanges. The host country will provide the same benefits and allowances to our personnel as they do to their own

When we talk of national service, it’s not only applicable in Ghana. Other continents also do it. The US, they have, Nigeria, and the UK, all have it

So we are looking at integrating our processes, our arrangements with some of the national service arrangements in other countries so that we could deploy some of our personnel to those countries we have entered into a partnership with them

Every NSS operation will be streamlined to match public sector processes. Staff grades and promotions will align with public service standards. The data collection and registration processes will also be enhanced, giving personnel a head start,” Armstrong Essah, Director of Corporate Affairs for the National Service Scheme said in an interview.