NDC will abolish the NTC teacher licensure examination – Mahama

Former President and National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, says his party will abolish the Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination (GTLE) administered by the National Teaching Council (NTC).

In his address at a tour, John Mahama described the national licensure teacher as unnecessary arguing that teachers already undergo examinations at various stages of their training thus the GTLE becomes a burden on teachers.

The ex-President and NDC flagbearer for the 2024 election said automatic posting of teacher trainee graduates under his leadership will be the mode of teacher employment assuring that no graduate would be denied posting or employment.

“We will abolish the obnoxious Ghana teacher licensure examination for teacher trainees and restore the automatic employment of teacher trainee graduates. Let me state unequivocally that no teacher trainee graduate will be denied posting or employment under the next Mahama government,” he stated.

The Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination (GTLE) is the credentialing examination of the National Teaching Council for pre-tertiary teachers in Ghana. Every successful candidate in the examination receives a professional teacher license.

In other news, the National Teaching Council (NTC) following the mass failure recorded in the first phase of the 2023 Ghana teacher licensure examination resit says it is considering introducing a cut-off point for the examination.

The Registrar of NTC, Christian Addai Poku in an interview monitored by AcademicWeek.com said almost 85% of tertiary graduates failed the examination for teachers, a move which has prompted his outfit to introduce the cut-off.

“Almost 85% failed the 2023 teacher licensure resit examination. This shows clearly that we have to introduce a cut-off point for the GTLE. Those resitting the examination and cannot pass are wasting their time and money,” Addai said.

NTC’s Registrar comment comes after Africa Education Watch proposed for the management of the National Teaching Council (NTC) to place a limit on the number of times a candidate can sit for the teacher licensure resit examination.

The National Teaching Council (NTC) is mandated by the Education Act 2008 (Act 778), section 9 to improve the professional standing and status of teachers and to license and register teachers in Ghana.