Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu inspected Ghana Education Service staff amid a rush to meet a Monday 4 p.m. deadline for processing promoted teachers’ data. The minister’s focus was sharply on the reliance on paper forms to handle the information, which he criticized as inefficient and outdated.
During his visit, Mr Iddrisu questioned why the process still depended on teachers and officials filling out large volumes of paperwork. “Why are we doing that? Why should teachers at this age be filling forms?” he asked. The minister called for an electronic system to replace the current manual approach, saying technology would ease the burden and speed up data handling.
“The only way we can do so is using an IT infrastructure system,” he said. Mr Iddrisu said he would raise the issue with relevant authorities to push for the adoption of a digital platform in the future.
The data being compiled will be submitted to the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department. This is a step toward processing the promotion details of teachers affected by the nationwide strike. The strike has focused attention on various administrative delays and inefficiencies within the education sector.
The minister also expressed concern about the physical volume of paper and materials officials had to manage during the exercise. “But how can we carry all this material? How can we carry all this?” he asked, underscoring the logistical challenges of the current system.
The Ghana Education Service has been under pressure to finalise promotion details to address some demands of striking teachers. The strike began earlier this year, with teachers protesting delays in the processing of promotions and other welfare issues. The government has been negotiating with teacher unions to resolve the impasse.
Mr Iddrisu’s comments came as GES staff worked under tight time constraints to meet the Monday afternoon deadline. The completion of this exercise is expected to facilitate the formalisation of promotions, which teachers have said were long overdue.
The minister’s emphasis on modernising the process points to a wider problem of outdated administrative practices in Ghana’s public sector. The call for an IT-based system reflects growing frustration with manual procedures that slow down critical public service delivery.
No further details were provided on when or how the proposed electronic system might be implemented. The focus remained on the immediate task of processing paper forms before the deadline.
The pressure to finalise promoted teachers’ data is one of several government efforts to address demands raised by the striking teachers, but the reliance on paper forms reveals deeper challenges in managing large-scale data in education administration.
According to Joy Online.
