Everybody talks about losing staff on the nursing front, but there is a crisis slowly building up in the education sector.
At least eight out of ten trained teachers would leave the shores of Ghana and render their services abroad, given the opportunity.
For most of these teachers, the poor working conditions and disrespect for the teaching profession in Ghana leave them with no option but to move to developed countries for better remuneration.
Ibrahim Abubakar has been assessing the impact of the mass exodus of teachers from Ghana.
As of October 2023, as many as 10,000 teachers in the country had left for developed countries.
This figure, disclosed by the National Teaching Council, may even be more.
“The mass exodus of our teachers outside the country has not been captured as it is. The number is increasing by the day. As of October, we know of 10,000 who have left that is accounted for. For those who did not pass through our borders, we could hardly put a figure to it.
“So after October, those who have left, we’ve even lost count,” Ashanti Regional Secretary of National Association of Graduates Teachers, Tindana Baba Joseph indicated.
But for financial constraints, Abubakar Bansi would’ve joined his colleagues who recently traveled to the United Kingdom to render their teaching services.
The father of 3 has been in the teaching profession for more than two decades and currently teaches at the Armed Forces Senior High Technical in Kumasi.
“They’re complaining that we (teachers) are many, what’s the worry when some of us are leaving? As I stand here, if not because of money, I would’ve gone too because if I should go, I would be able to afford quality education for my children. The living condition for teachers in this country is not easy. ”
A few weeks after writing her licensure exams, Priscilla Afriyie went for a recommendation letter to aid in her process of traveling abroad.
The 25-year-old is of the view that the teaching profession is not respected in Ghana.
“In Ghana, people don’t value teachers, but we all know the developed countries value teachers. So why should I stay when there are better opportunities awaiting me outside?”she questioned.
Although Ghana is battling with a teacher shortage, most trained teachers are planning to travel abroad in search of better conditions of service.
Firdaus Ahmed is in her second year as a teacher trainee, but has already made up her mind to leave the country after she graduates.
To her, the condition of service for the Ghanaian teacher is not encouraging and enticing enough.
“If I have any chance, I won’t even think twice to leave. There are a lot of teachers, so me leaving is not going to make anything fall short. ”
The high attrition rate in the education sector poses a threat to the future of the nation’s education and development.
“You have very qualified teachers who are leaving the shores. You have teachers over the time who have been at the grassroots, have come to understand the nuisances. Apart from the academic work, the morality of our students today, what we need to impart, and what measures to use to curb certain behaviors.
“Now, it is the bulk of these teachers who are leaving the shores of the country. And when that happens, education turns out to suffer.
“The conditions are just not favorable, and the teacher today is worse off than before,” Atindana Baba explained.
At a recent graduation ceremony at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II also expressed worry over the mass exodus of teachers and nurses from Ghana.
“It is without a doubt a disheartening spectacle to bear witness to a substantial exodus of our health and teaching professionals; all departing our shores in pursuit of more promising opportunities abroad. While it is important to acknowledge that human migration is not inherently negative, it is equally crucial to recognize that if this phenomenon remains unchecked, it poses a huge threat to the future of our nature.
“We must collectively work to transform our country into an enticing and compelling destination for our youth; a place where they have unshaken faith in their capacity to thrive and succeed,” he said.
For those in the education sector, until the government puts in place the right measures by improving the condition of service of teachers, more and more will continue to ditch the country and render their services abroad, given the opportunity.