Ex-GES boss clarifies 2024 teacher recruitment, refutes Education Minister’s claim of wrongdoing

Dr. Eric Nkansah, the former Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), has denied claims made by Education Minister Hon. Haruna Iddrisu. The Minister alleged that 39,000 appointment letters were issued in 2024 without financial clearance from the Ministry of Finance.

In a statement on Saturday, Dr. Nkansah called this assertion “factually inaccurate.” He urged the public to disregard it. He emphasized that every teacher recruited in 2024 had valid financial clearance.

Breakdown of Financial Clearance

Dr. Nkansah provided details about the financial clearances granted by the Ministry of Finance:

- On May 10, 2024, clearance was given for 16,500 graduate teachers.
- On July 26, 2024, an additional 2,000 slots were approved.
- On October 10, 2024, some slots were amended to allow for diploma teachers.

These approvals allowed for a total of 18,500 recruitments.

Utilisation of Approved Slots

Dr. Nkansah explained how these approved figures were utilized:

For the initial clearance of 16,500 graduate teachers:
- 12,784 were recruited from Colleges of Education.
- 2,629 were limited university graduates.
- 920 addressed a spillover from the previous year.

This resulted in a total utilization of 16,333 slots with a balance of 167 remaining.

For the additional diploma teacher slots:
- 1,387 were recruited.
- This left a balance of 613 slots unused.

Overall, there were 17,720 recruits in 2024 and a total of 780 unused slots.

Call for Accuracy

In conclusion, Dr. Nkansah reiterated that all teachers recruited in 2024 had proper financial clearance. He cautioned against misleading public commentary on sensitive issues like this one. Such inaccuracies can erode trust in important institutions.

He stated that the claim about issuing appointment letters without financial clearance is unsupported by facts. Dr. Nkansah included relevant documents with his statement to support his position.