Dr. Christian Addai-Poku, the Registrar of the Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination (GTLE), has expressed concern over the number of teachers who have attempted the exam multiple times without success.
According to him, some teachers have written the licensure examination up to eight or ten times but have been unable to pass, leading to doubts about their suitability for the teaching profession.
“As a council, I think it is a worry to the whole nation but the fact still remains that we need the right calibre of people in our classrooms and we cannot afford to compromise on quality. Let me also underscore the examination that was written recently was exclusively for re-sitters some of whom have written the examination five times, eight times 10 times and they have still not been successful,” 3news.com quoted him to have said in an interview with TV3 on June 2023.
He added that in the most recent examination session, out of the 7,728 aspiring teachers who participated, only 1,277 managed to pass.
He emphasized the National Teaching Council’s commitment to ensuring that classrooms are filled with competent educators, highlighting the importance of maintaining quality standards. The registrar further highlighted that the recent examination was specifically designated for re-sitters, including those who had attempted the test multiple times without success.
“So, in the course of the reforms, we decided that fresh candidates were not required to write this licensure examination so we limited it exclusively to re-sitters, 7000 people who have been writing the exams and have not passed. When the results came it was not different from the previous records, they still could not make it.
“Some people are just not capable of passing and I think…. they might be very good in other areas but might not be very good in the art of teaching and so they may have to redirect their energies to other areas,” he added.
