Parents paying salaries of 176 teachers in Prestea Huni-Valley - Iddrisu

The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has painted a worrying picture of Ghana’s teacher shortage crisis, disclosing that parents in the Prestea Huni-Valley Constituency are personally paying the salaries of 176 teachers currently working in public schools.

Speaking in Parliament on Friday, May 29 2026, the minister admitted the situation highlights deep structural problems in the education sector, with the national teacher deficit standing at nearly 50,000.

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To help ease the pressure, the government has begun recruiting 7,000 teachers and 3,000 lecturers nationwide.

“Currently, we are undertaking some recruitment of about 7,000 teachers across the country,” he stated.

Iddrisu explained that a Ghana Education Service team assessed the Prestea Huni-Valley situation in 2023.

“A team from the Ghana Education Service visited the area in 2023 to undertake a situational assessment. The findings confirm 176 community teachers operating in the area,” he said.

He noted that recruitment is ongoing but depends on financial clearance.

“So, we are currently recruiting 7,000 teachers across the country. And for the tertiary education level, close to 3,000 lecturers will be able to fill in the gap,” he added.

The Minister announced that a new batch of recruited teachers will begin work on July 1, 2026.

“First of July, a new batch of recruited teachers will start work across Ghana, and some 7,000 teachers will be recruited,” he said.

He, however, cautioned that meeting the full national need remains challenging due to budget constraints.

“If you do a national assessment of our needs, we need a minimum of 50,000 teachers across the country. But that is subject to budget and the budget being able to absorb that,” he stated.

The revelation has once again brought to the fore the heavy burden parents and pupils bear in many communities where basic education is struggling due to acute teacher shortages.

NA/AM