The Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana (TTAG) has entreated the government to expedite action on the construction of 300-bed hostel facilities for colleges of education in the country.

According to the association, inadequate accommodation had resulted in the colleges running the double-track system which it said was not the best for the degree awarding institutions.

For instance, it said levels 200 and 400 students were currently on campus while levels 100 and 300 were at home, adding that such a situation did not allow for a smooth academic work.

The President of TTAG, Nana Kwame Jephthah, made the appeal in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday.

Situation

The president further said that the inadequate dormitory blocks had compelled trainees to spend short periods in school.

For instance, Mr Jephthah said instead of spending 16 weeks on campus, students now spent about 12 weeks.  

He said a formal request had been submitted to the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) for the government to provide the hostel facilities within the shortest possible time.

Mr Jephthah said although work had started in some of the institutions such as the Accra and the St Francis Colleges of Education, there was the need to speed up work and also extend the project to other institutions where work was yet to commence.

Last year, the government announced that it had completed processes for the construction of 300-bed hostel blocks in all 46 colleges of education.

The construction of a three-storey block for each college was estimated at GH¢485 million.

The project is being funded by the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund). 

Projects

The Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, who announced this, told journalists that the project was an initiative of the government through the ministry and its agency, GTEC.

He said the project, which was aimed at resolving accommodation challenges in the colleges, would be executed by 45 local contractors and that work was expected to be completed in 15 months and handed over to the colleges by August this year.

As part of the government’s education reforms, all public colleges of education have been converted into four-year Bachelor of Education degree awarding institutions.

This has necessitated the expansion of facilities to accommodate the increasing number of students and also improve teaching and learning in those institutions.

For his part, the coordinator of TTAG, Stanley Edem Ekissi, also said that the double track system had been going on in the colleges for the past two years.

Allowance

The trainees, however, commended the government for releasing funds to the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department for the payment of their allowances.

Mr Ekissi said the association was aware that GH¢ 241 million had been released for onward disbursement to trainees for the entire academic year.

“We want to urge the department to speed up processes and release the money to us to facilitate our academic work,” the coordinator said.

SOURCE: Graphiconline