The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), Kofi Asare, has urged the government to immediately implement the promised 20 per cent deprived area allowance for teachers, arguing that the incentive must come before deploying educators to rural communities if the policy is to succeed.
His comments follow assurances by the Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, that the government remains committed to introducing the allowance as part of a broader package of incentives aimed at attracting and retaining teachers in underserved communities.
Addressing Parliament, Mr. Iddrisu reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the long-awaited incentive.
“The government is committed to rolling out a 20 per cent rural posting allowance for teachers serving in rural and deprived areas. The Ministry of Finance, the Ghana Education Service and the Ministry of Education are working together on its implementation,” he said.
Responding to the announcement, Mr. Asare noted that about 30 per cent of Ghana’s pre-tertiary teachers currently serve in deprived communities and insisted that financing the allowance is well within the government’s means.
According to him, Eduwatch estimates that implementing the 20 per cent deprived area allowance would cost approximately GH₵1.2 billion annually, based on the 2026 average gross teacher salary of GH₵4,773.
He pointed out that the amount represents only 3.5 per cent of the 2026 education sector compensation budget, arguing that it is affordable.
“That is just 3.5% of the 2026 education sector compensation budget. Not an amount beyond Ato,” Mr. Asare stated.
He cautioned that deploying teachers to deprived areas without first implementing the promised incentives would undermine the policy’s effectiveness.
“Without these incentives, if you deploy 10k to deprived areas today, they are back to town tomorrow,” he said.
Mr. Asare further stressed that the allowance should precede any large-scale deployment of teachers.
“Logically, this incentive must precede deployment,” he argued.
Questioning the delay, he added: “We are ending the second academic year under this government. What are they waiting for?”
Beyond the proposed allowance, the Education Minister announced another major incentive package for teachers who accept postings to rural and hard-to-reach communities.
Mr. Iddrisu disclosed that the qualifying period for study leave with pay for teachers serving in designated deprived areas has been reduced from three years to two years.
“Mr Speaker, as part of the government’s efforts to attract, motivate and retain teachers in deprived and underserved communities, special incentives have been put in place for teachers who accept postings to such areas,” he told Parliament.
“I’m happy to note that one of these incentives is a reduction in the number of years required to qualify for study leave. Originally, it was three years. If you are in a deprived area, we are reducing it now to two years. Any person posted to a rural deprived area can apply for study leave with pay after two years of service,” the Minister stated.
Mr. Iddrisu also announced progress on the proposed Teacher Dabre Housing Initiative, which seeks to provide accommodation for teachers in rural communities.
“We are currently engaged in discussions to implement the Teacher Dabre Initiative, which will provide accommodation for teachers in rural areas to address the housing challenges that often affect teacher deployment and retention in those areas,” he said.
According to the Minister, future school infrastructure projects will deliberately include residential accommodation for teachers.
“Under this initiative, deliberate measures are being taken to ensure that the construction of new school facilities is accompanied by teacher accommodation,” he explained.
He said the initiative would be implemented through a decentralised model led by the Administrator of the District Assemblies Common Fund, with support from the Ghana Education Service Occupational Pension Scheme (GESOPS).
“The initiative will be as decentralised as possible. What the Government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Education, will provide is support from our pension fund, GESOPS, which currently has about GH¢12 billion that can be used as collateral to roll out the Teacher Dabre Initiative,” he stated.
The Education Minister added that a joint Cabinet memorandum involving the Ministries of Finance, Education, Works and Housing, and Local Government is being prepared to provide a clear implementation roadmap for the teacher housing programme.
The package of incentives forms part of the government’s broader strategy to improve teacher welfare, strengthen education delivery in underserved communities and ensure equitable access to quality education across Ghana.
Source: www.kumasmail.com
