President John Dramani Mahama has announced the introduction of the “Teacher Dabre” initiative, a policy aimed at providing accommodation for teachers in rural areas to enhance their welfare and retention.
Delivering the State of the Nation Address on Thursday, February 27, he emphasized that no new school would be built in Ghana without teacher accommodation.
To further encourage teachers to accept postings to underserved areas, the President announced the implementation of a 20% allowance for teachers who agree to stay and work in rural schools. “It is important to continue to retain and motivate our teachers, especially in the rural areas. We will begin plans for the implementation of this allowance to recognize their sacrifices and ensure quality education nationwide,” he said.
President Mahama reiterated his commitment to improving the Free Senior High School (SHS) program, stating unequivocally that he would not cancel it but rather enhance its implementation.
He corrected what he described as an exaggerated claims by the previous administration, stating that 3.4 million students had benefited from Free SHS since its inception, not 5.1 million as previously reported.
“The Free SHS program has improved access, but its implementation leaves much to be desired,” he said, adding that recommendations from the ongoing National Education Forum would guide his government’s reforms in the sector.
To strengthen education at the basic level, President Mahama announced the “Zero to Hero” initiative, which seeks to redefine the scope of basic education and enhance foundational literacy and numeracy.
The initiative will integrate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) training into early childhood education and expand over three years to cover at least 300 classrooms, 30 centers of excellence, and 1,000 teachers.
In addition, he pledged support for Islamic education, promising to recruit more Arabic tutors, provide scholarships for brilliant but needy students in Zongo communities, and support Islamic Colleges of Education with infrastructure and logistics. He also announced plans to enroll youth in Zongo and deprived urban areas into the National Apprenticeship Program, offering them free technical and vocational training.
