Members of the 2023 cohort of trained teachers have appealed to the Ministry of Education and the government to prioritise their batch in the ongoing teacher recruitment and posting process, saying they remain unemployed despite completing their professional training and national service.
The Coalition of Unemployed Trained Teachers (CUTT), represented by its Chairperson, Wisdom Dzisah Kpornyuie Deladem, said the affected teachers completed their College of Education training in 2023 and concluded their mandatory national service in February 2025, but are yet to secure government postings.
Mr. Deladem explained that members of the affected cohort commenced their College of Education programme in 2019, graduated in 2023 and subsequently undertook national service from March 2024 to February 2025.
According to him, the group has since been awaiting the opportunity to be posted into the public education system, but repeated efforts to obtain clarity and action from the relevant authorities have not produced the expected outcome.
The concern has become more pressing following indications that the next teacher recruitment exercise, expected to take effect in November, may focus on the 2024 cohort while portions of the 2023 cohort remain without employment.
The Coalition is therefore urging the Ministry of Education to consider the outstanding 2023 trainees before moving fully to subsequent cohorts.
“We completed our national service in February 2025, and since then we have been making efforts towards posting. We are appealing to the Ministry and government to consider the 2023 batch because some of us are still at home without employment.”
Mr. Deladem
The group said the prolonged period without formal employment has created financial difficulties for many of its members, particularly those who depend on their prospective earnings to support families and repay investments made in their education.
Appeals To Education Ministry
Mr. Deladem disclosed that the Coalition has formally written to the Minister of Education on approximately three occasions to register its concerns and request intervention.
He said the letters were submitted to the Minister’s office with the expectation that the concerns would receive either a formal response or action. However, according to the Coalition, no feedback has been received on the correspondence submitted.
The absence of a clear response, the group said, has compounded uncertainty among the affected teachers, particularly as discussions around the next phase of recruitment continue.
The Coalition is consequently seeking greater clarity from the Ministry regarding the status of the 2023 cohort and the criteria that will determine eligibility for the next recruitment exercise.
Concerns Over Recruitment Sequence
Mr. Deladem said the Coalition had previously understood that the Ministry intended to address the cohorts on a sequential basis, beginning with the 2023 group.
He noted that earlier indications from the Education Ministry suggested that anomalies identified in the teacher recruitment process would first be addressed before recruitment proceeded on a batch-by-batch basis.
However, the Coalition said subsequent indications that the 2024 cohort could be prioritised have raised concerns among members of the 2023 group.
The group maintained that a clear and transparent recruitment sequence would help affected teachers understand their position and plan accordingly.
Mr. Deladem said the Coalition’s concern was not simply about individual employment opportunities but also about the consistency and predictability of the teacher recruitment process.
He argued that previous recruitment practices had generally followed the progression of graduating cohorts, with earlier groups considered before subsequent ones.
Recruitment Portal Yet to Open
On the status of the recruitment process, the representatives confirmed that the recruitment portal had not yet been opened.
They said the expectation communicated by the Education Ministry was that the portal would open in November as part of the next recruitment exercise.
However, the unresolved question for members of the 2023 cohort is whether they will be permitted to participate in that process or whether access will be restricted to the 2024 cohort.
The Coalition is consequently calling for a definitive position from the Ministry to remove uncertainty surrounding eligibility and provide affected teachers with a clear roadmap.
For the 2023 cohort, the appeal is centred on being given consideration before subsequent cohorts are processed, particularly after completing their prescribed training and national service.
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