The Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, has been implicated in a $1.2 million World Bank-funded phantom teacher training scheme.
According to correspondence between his office and the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Director-General of the GES, Prof Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, appears to be unaware of the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project’s training of over 40,000 teachers on the digital literacy platform (GALOP).
As part of its investigation into teacher training as claimed by the Education Ministry, the World Bank wrote to the Director-General of GES to confirm the said training.
In contrast, Prof Opoku-Amankwa stated in a letter that he is “unaware that such training has occurred.”
“GES is unaware of reports and correspondence between the Education Ministry and the World Bank,” according to the letter, and “is unable to respond to the Bank’s request in a timely manner.”
The Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, was also asked in the same letter, dated March 30, 2022, to “advise and provide instructions to enable the GES to respond correctly to the World Bank’s inquiries.”
This confirms reports that, on November 30, the Education Minister, in collaboration with GES, approved the training and requested $1.2 million from the World Bank in response to claims that GALOP had successfully taught over 40,000 teachers.
According to the Education Ministry, teachers received training in three categories: recorded online instruction, physical training, and online/virtual live training.
The Education Ministry’s Chief Director, Benjamin Gyasi, concluded in a letter to the World Bank that the country had “exceeded the target of 40,000 teachers to be educated, insisting that PBC7.2B has been reached.”
According to World Bank sources, this is not the case.
Following receipt of the materials, the World Bank requested in an email letter dated January 7, 2022 that the Education Ministry clarify some of the statistics on teacher training successes.
The clarification asked the “MoE to clarify the difference in course material, arguing that the course does not appear to be the same as the content training set forth in GALOP.”
In a series of questions, the Bank also requested that the “MoE disclose the slides for the training classes, as well as examples of the self-assessments teachers were required to complete, so we have a grasp of the actual material.”
“Does the MoE have any qualitative feedback from teachers who participated in the training that can help us understand whether they believe their distance learning skills have improved?” If so, may they be distributed?” The Bank inquired.
It also requested that the Education Ministry “clarify whether the portal is linked (or if there is a plan to link) to student performance in order to demonstrate the impact/results of the teacher digital literacy portal at the classroom level and to facilitate targeted adaptation of teaching for improved learning outcomes.”
Despite the World Bank’s request that the Education Minister respond by January 14, 2022, he is said to have been silent for nearly four months.
Due to the Education Ministry’s deafening silence, the World Bank wrote to Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, Director-General of the GES, requesting clarification on the Ministry’s claims that GALOP has educated nearly 40,000 teachers.