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Innovative teachers, a group which seeks to develop alternative sources of income for teachers says the Ghana Education Service is too corrupt to implement the teacher licensing regime being proposed by the National Teaching Council, NTC.
Leader Stephen Densu says current systems of assessing teachers, including for promotion is riddled with corrupt officials who demand various sums of money in order to pass teachers.
This has compromised the system, and until it is addressed, any professional exam conducted to ensure teachers are duly qualified would suffer the same fate.
A debate is raging over the planned introduction of a professional examination to certify teachers in the country by the NTC. Under the proposal, teachers will undergo various tests on a yearly basis to renew their licenses.
The two major teacher unions in Ghana, Ghana National Association of Teachers, GNAT, and the National Association of Graduate Teachers, NAGRAT, have kicked against the implementation and has called for broader consultation on its merits, demerits and the plan of implementation.
The unions also say government has failed to deliver on a number of items in their service conditions, and if the licensing is to come into force, these conditions have to be fulfilled first.
Contributing to a discussion on the issue on JoyFM, Stephen Densu said there is inherent corruption in the GES. Teachers have to settle various monetary demands by supervisors in their current assessments. The illegal payments determine whether the supervisor will pass a teacher or not.
He noted this has persisted over a long period of time because the supervisors themselves have no one checking their work, placing teachers at their mercy.
Mr Densu stressed for any measure such as the licensing regime to achieve the desired results of bringing out the best teachers, this inherent corruption has to be addressed, otherwise, it will be an exercise in futility and yet another avenue for some corrupt GES officials to enrich themselves.
Meanwhile the National Teaching Council has denied reports the teacher licensing regime would start in September this year.
Executive Secretary Dr Evelyn Oduro says discussions are still ongoing on the matter and the board has yet to determine how and when it will be rolled out. She appealed to the teacher unions to table their grievance for redress.