By Rebecca Ampah
The running mate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has declared that teachers in Ghana are experiencing unprecedented improvements in their working conditions and salaries under the current administration.
In an interview with Thelma Tackie on the GTV Breakfast Show: Manifesto Watch, Dr Opoku Prempeh stated, “every teacher that was promised one laptop has been delivered, and every teacher now starts on a salary three times higher than it was before we came to power.”
Commenting on the current basic school semester system, he added, “Every teacher leader will tell you there’s more contact time under the current semester system than ever.”
Matthew Opoku Prempeh emphasized that before President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo took office, teachers’ legacy areas, promotional allowances, and salaries were all in disarray. He criticized the previous administration for canceling student-teacher allowances.
Regarding infrastructure, he highlighted the expansion of secondary schools, noting, “When we came, there were about 600 secondary schools; now there are about 1,000.” He also pointed out the improvement in teacher qualifications, stating that “every general teacher employed under previous governments was a diploma holder, but now they are graduates with special certifications.”
He further asserted that education was never a priority for the previous government, concluding that “it is only a Bawumia government that can continuously improve educational welfare.”