Gov’t releases over ¢67m to Colleges of Education

This comes after the National Conference of Principals of Colleges of Education – Ghana (PRINCOF) said it could nit continue feeding the trainees due to huge debts owed by the government.

Addressing a press conference in Accra on Wednesday April 20, Education Minister Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum said “I am very happy to inform you that government has released ¢67, 942, 652 to Colleges of Education. I know you may have read media reports, there were many calls on us to respond to concerns of PRINCOF. We want to let the country know that the President of the Republic, the Finance Minister and all those who have work hard to ensure various promises made to Colleges of Education are carried through, have delivered on their promise. That is why this amount has been released to Colleges of Education.”

The Executive Secretary of PRINCOF, Dr. Harriet Naki Amui in an earlier letter dated Tuesday, April 19, 2022 sent to the Minister of Education directed that teacher trainees must start to fund their own feeding from May 8, if funds are not made available to them.

This directive has been necessitated in response to the inability of Colleges of Education to make payments for food items supplied to them.

The statement said food suppliers continued delivering supplies to these Colleges of Education for months without payment but they have finally withdrawn their services till they receive the monies owed them.

“Most Colleges now have food items that can last only one week if students are to be provided with three (3) meals a day,” PRINCOF said.

The PRINCOF statement therefore made the following four proposals which take effect on April 23.

“Trainee teachers will be provided with two meals, breakfast and supper only for one week, from April 23 to April 30, 2022, that, Trainee teachers from May 1 to May 8, 2022 shall be given lunch only, that, after May 8, trainee teachers would be asked to provide their own meals until their feeding allowances have been paid and finally, “food vendors will be encouraged to increase the quantity of daily meals they cook for sale to students”.

The statement added that “all these measures are meant to ensure that there is no disruption of the academic calendar”.

Source: 3news.com|Ghana