The National Teaching Council (NTC) will start enforcing the nation's teacher license statute in January of next year.

 The National Teaching Council (NTC) will start enforcing the nation's teacher license statute in January of next year.

Dr. Christian Addai-Poku is the NTC's registrar.

This means that starting today and ending on December 31, 2022, all instructors in public and private schools will need to have a license in order to work in any school across the nation.

The unlicensed instructor and the owner of the school where they work will be prosecuted for their failing to possess a license.

The NTC will deal with anyone who does not have the authorization (licensed) to teach as of January 2023 because the law is clear and you can be penalized for teaching without a license, according to the statement, "Now we are going into the licensing enforcement stage."

Dr. Christian Addai-Poku, the NTC's registrar, spoke to the Daily Graphic in Accra.

Act Regulatory

A person shall not knowingly or carelessly employ a person as a teacher in an institution unless the teacher is registered under this Act, according to Section 79 of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023), he claimed.

Anyone who violates this is guilty of an offense and faces a fine of at least 500 penalty units and a maximum of 1000 penalty units, as well as a period of imprisonment of at least six months and a maximum of one year, upon summary conviction.

Dr. Addai-Poku stated that starting in January, the NTC would pursue anyone found in the classrooms without a license and refusing to apply for one in accordance with the severe guidelines outlined in the Education Regulatory Bodies Act.

He explained that as part of the process, the council would send inspectors to both public and private schools to conduct inspections.

"We would dispatch inspectors to visit and inspect schools. We then go to the school and collect the teacher data to determine who is licensed.

Both public and private schools are subject to the same punishment under the law, he continued, not only those who teach.

He emphasized that having a teaching license was a requirement for all teachers in the nation.

"Public and private school instructors alike are a part of Ghana's classroom culture if they are teaching there.

You must apply for a temporary license if you are a private school instructor without a complete license, he explained.

Therefore, if you are not a qualified teacher, you still have the option to apply between now and December of this year, according to the NTC Registrar.

You need to submit an application for a two-year temporary license. If you don't do that and we visit the school, we'll not only bring charges against the teacher, but also against the person who hired her.

Dr. Addai-Poku stated that since the teacher was going to teach, it was their responsibility to obtain a temporary license. It was also the responsibility of the school to determine whether or not the individuals they were hiring had a license.

"Ideally, you should acquire a license before you are working, even before you enroll in school. But if you are already a part of the system, get that license before the NTC deadline goes into force," he advised. He also suggested that it would be wise for owners to encourage their teachers in getting licenses since else they would have to fire them in order to avoid breaking the law.

When asked why the legislation had not been enforced throughout, he responded that the council had taken the time in 2018, even though the law had not yet been implemented, to inform instructors about the impending law, which was later passed in 2020.

Dr. Addai-Poku claimed that the council began registering in-service teachers as soon as the law was established. The council then proceeded to travel the entire country, registering teachers in districts and regions, and this procedure was just finished this month.

He emphasized that a teacher could be qualified to teach with either a provisional, temporary, or full license.