Teacher applicants demand GHS62 test refund

Unemployed graduates who were asked to pay GHS62 for an aptitude test by the Ghana Education Service are demanding a refund.

Over 4,570 graduates reportedly paid GHS62 each before writing the test on Saturday May 21. They were administered questions from the West African Senior Secondary Examination (WASSCE).

One of the graduates who spoke on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) on Class 91.3fm on Tuesday, May 24 indicated he and a number of his colleagues felt cheated.

“Since the GES is not ready to explain to us what the GHS62 was meant for, I think what they have to do is to come back and say sorry to us and tell us that they will give us a day to do the refund,” he told host Prince Minkah.

“We are just waiting for them. We are appealing that the GHS62 that we paid, most of them were monies taken from parents; some of them [graduates] could not get the money and were deprived from getting employment into GES. Some, too, could not get money to transport themselves from their various houses to the examination centre, so, we are pleading that they [GES] should come back, rescind their decision, and do the refunding.”

Education think tank VIAM Africa has said the conduct of the aptitude test does not determine if one will be an effective teacher.

“The [fellow] has done a degree programme in mathematics and you are measuring his ability to teach with WASSCE? In education, writing that exam will not determine teacher effectiveness because it will not determine whether the person is a good teacher or not,” Executive Director of VIAM Dr Prince Armah said.

“Have you not seen someone who is very knowledgeable in a field but cannot teach to your understanding? So, that tells you that there is something that explains that. Whenever a factor is not able to explain an issue, then it means that there are other factors that explain that issue. So, if there are people who cannot teach regardless of having knowledge, there are other factors, and we said that those factors include issues of self-efficacy, understanding of pedagogical skills, and how to teach it. That is why you go and do psychology of learning and human development… So, for me, you cannot tell me that writing WASSCE is a better predictor of teacher effectiveness.”