The National Teaching Council (NTC) has dismissed claims circulating on social media that the Government has increased fees for the Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination (GTLE) and reneged on its promise to scrap the examination.
Mr. Kwami Alorvi, Board Chairman of the NTC, during a press conference in Accra on Monday, stated that these allegations were “totally false” and should be treated with contempt.
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The conference, he noted, was organized on short notice to set the record straight and prevent public misinformation.
Mr. Alorvi explained that the last adjustment in licensure examination fees was in 2023 under the previous administration and had since remained unchanged.
“For four years now ; 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, the fee has remained GH¢450 for fresh candidates,” he said.
He added that resit candidates continued to pay GH¢150 for one subject, GH¢210 for two subjects and GH¢350 for three subjects, with an indexation fee of GH¢50 applicable to all candidates as set in 2023.
He noted that the same fees applied to fresh candidates from six Colleges of Education affiliated to the University of Ghana who were unable to sit for the first integrated licensure examination in October 2025 due to delays in data upload onto the NTC portal.
“To suggest that the fees have been increased amounts to mischief and a figment of one’s imagination,” he stated.
On claims that the Government had reneged on its promise to abolish the licensure examination, Mr. Alorvi said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had fulfilled its 2024 manifesto commitment by reforming and integrating the licensure process into the final year examination of teacher trainees.
He said the pledge, captured under Chapter 5.1.5 of the party’s manifesto, sought to abolish the practice where trainees completed college and waited for a year before sitting a separate licensure examination.
“The reform means integrating the licensing process into the final year examination and adding a practical component to reflect pedagogical competence,” he said.
He disclosed that on April 25, 2025, the Minister of Education, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, constituted a seven-member committee to develop modalities for implementing the professional licensing policy.
The committee, chaired by Mr. Alorvi, submitted its report on May 28, 2025, recommending a three-tier approach.
Under the first tier, resit candidates and those who had completed college but were yet to write the examination were required to take the old format, which was phased out in August 2025.
The second tier involved integrating a reformed licensure examination into the final semester examination of trainees currently in college, with a practical teaching component constituting 30 per cent of the total mark. The first batch under the new system wrote the examination in October 2025.
The third tier proposed the introduction of a screening process for prospective entrants into Colleges of Education, for which stakeholder consultations were yet to begin.
Mr. Alorvi stressed that the licensure examination was backed by law and could not be scrapped arbitrarily.
He cited Section 60 of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023), which mandates the NTC to conduct examinations for licensing persons who successfully complete teacher education programmes and to issue licences accordingly.
“With these mandatory provisions, neither the NTC nor any government can wake up one day and cancel the licensure examination without breaching the law,” he said.
He explained that the licensure examination served as a standardized mechanism in a system where multiple universities mentor the 48 public Colleges of Education and apply varying grading systems.
The mentoring institutions include the University of Cape Coast, the University of Education, Winneba, the University of Ghana and the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development.
He noted that while some institutions applied a 60 per cent continuous assessment and 40 per cent examination model, others adopted the reverse, making a standardised licensure examination necessary to ensure fairness and quality assurance.
Mr. Alorvi further stated that Ghana’s licensing regime aligned with international best practices and enhanced the global competitiveness of Ghanaian teachers.
He said the NTC was a member of the African Federation of Teaching Regulatory Authorities and the International Federation of Teaching Regulatory Authorities, and that Ghana’s licensing system had enabled teachers to secure opportunities in countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom without additional qualification tests.
He reaffirmed the Council’s openness to constructive proposals aimed at improving the licensure regime.
Mr. Alorvi concluded by reiterating that the claims of fee increases and abandonment of the reform promise were unfounded and urged the public to disregard them.
