Kofi Asare, Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, has cautioned against any attempt to abolish the teacher licensure examination, highlighting its critical role in maintaining quality standards in Ghana’s education system.

His comments follow a recent directive from the Ministry of Education instructing the National Teaching Council (NTC) to work with its Registrar to organise a final sitting under the current licensure framework by August 30.

This move, announced by Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu during the inauguration of the new NTC board on Tuesday, July 15, is part of a broader transition to a new system for assessing teacher qualifications.

Appearing on The Point of View on Channel One TV on Wednesday, July 16, Mr. Asare explained that the licensure exam has not been abolished and remains essential for ensuring the competency of teachers.

“Teacher Licensure examination hasn’t been abolished. It’s still very relevant, and for me, we need it for quality assurance. If we abolish that particular examination conducted by that external body, we will be admitting many people whom I reviewed their scripts personally, who couldn’t put together a sentence in English,” he said.

Mr. Asare further argued that the exam’s independence from teacher training faculties is vital to its credibility.

“They will be admitting all of them to our classrooms, and that would be a disaster. So, we need the Teacher Licensure Exams. The fact that it is conducted by an independent body and not the faculty it’s very important,” he added.