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Teacher trainees reject Nana Addo's peanut; say no to Gh¢198 allowance

Government explained that the policy of trainee allowances was to be replaced by a student loan scheme which was available for all degree awarding institutions.
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A group called Disappointed Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana said it is disappointed in the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo over the restoration and payment of allowances for students.

The Western Regional Communications Officer of the group, Famous Tumi Acquah said per their calculation, each teacher trainee would be paid GH¢198 for the whole year, an amount that is below the GH¢450 they previously received.

READ MORE:Nursing and teacher trainees allowances will be restored - Nana Addo

He described as hypocritical the stance taken by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) on the issue of teacher trainee allowance.

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In an interview on Accra FM, Tumi-Acquah said "We are extremely disappointed because we feel the government has short-changed us.

"When we did the calculation after the budget statement had been read by the minister, we realised that each teacher trainee would be paid GHS198 a month, much less than the amount we were paid, which was between GHS420 and GHS450. This is not what we were told ahead of the elections.

READ ALSO: Gov't to restore teacher trainee allowances in March - Bawumia

"We were also promised that the payment would be done in their first 100 days in office, but as has been stated in the budget, the payment will be done in September."

Allowance scrapped

Government scrapped teacher trainee allowance in 2014 in a move that was met with stiff opposition from trainee teachers who went as far as demonstrations to compel government to reintroduce the allowances.

READ MORE:Nana Addo can't solve Ghana's problem in his first year - IMANI

The decision according to government was also to allow an increase in the number of trainees admitted into various training colleges in the country.

Teacher trainees subsequently vowed to vote against the NDC government if it failed to restore the payment of their allowances before the 2016 general elections.

On the other hand, Nana Akufo-Addo, during the electioneering period promised that he will restore the allowance when voted as President.

Since the withdrawal, the government has been praising itself for taking a prudent decision which resulted in an exponential growth in enrollment figures at nursing and teacher training schools across the country, thereby expanding access nursing and teacher training.

READ MORE: Teacher trainees accuse gov't of lying

The New Patriotic Party has, however, insisted that the decision is senseless and imposed needless hardships on students and parents.

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