The Ghana Education Service (GES) is using dubious and exploitative means to extort money from graduates who want to gain employment and contribute their quota to national development as teachers, Dr Prince Armah, Executive Director of VIAM Africa, has said.

The head of the education and social policy think tank argues that “leaders do not care about the welfare of unemployed graduates” and wonders why energetic young people who are now looking for jobs will be asked to pay GHS62 to sit for an aptitude test before given teaching jobs.

The test was conducted on Saturday May 24 for over 4,000 applicants. Some of the applicants have indicated that the test comprised West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) questions. The question papers were, however, taken back from them after the test, according to reports.

Dr Armah said the explanation given by the GES that the money was fees for the West African Examination Council (WAEC) for the cost of the examination is “absolutely ridiculous and only a means for the GES to make money by squeezing the little from the unemployed graduates”.

He told Prince Minkah on Class91.3FM's Executive Breakfast Show that the action of GES “has no theoretical and empirical basis” because there is “huge evidence that a teacher’s knowledge does not translate to him being an effective teacher”.

“The guy 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,” Dr Armah added.

“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,” he added.

To him, the action of the GES was an impediment to access to employment in the service and wants authorities to take action. He has, therefore, written a petition to the GES, Ministry of Education, and the Presidency, to draw their attention to the conduct of the GES and rectify what he sees as an injustice.

Meanwhile, some of the graduates who participated in the exams are demanding a refund. One disgruntled applicant lamented bitterly that he could not get the money to pay so he could not write the test.

He narrated: “I also received a message from the GES to write the exams at Cape Coast. To be honest, I did not have that kind of money, let alone the transportation fare from Sekondi to Cape Coast. I have a Master’s Degree on top of my education degree in Biology from the University of Cape Coast and I cannot fathom why I will be made to pay that amount. Even private institutions do not collect any amount before recruitment, how much more a public institution. I did not make it, but I pray that God helps me to make it [get the job]. I feed on GHS3 or sometimes GHS5 a day and even out of this sum, I buy credit to surf the internet and apply for jobs. My parents have done enough and I cannot overburden them. I feel very frustrated because several attempts to find myself busy by applying for voluntary employment have never yielded any results,” he bemoaned.