President John Dramani Mahama has announced that the Controller and Accountant General’s Department will now pay the allowances of nursing and teacher trainees directly.
This decision aims to eliminate delays in receiving allowances, which have been a persistent issue for trainees in the past.
According to Mahama, “Nursing and Teacher trainee allowances are to be paid directly by the Controller and Accountant General. This has been made a part of the compensation items in the budget. This will permanently eliminate delays in trainees receiving their allowances.”
This development is particularly significant, given the history of delays and unpaid arrears that have plagued the payment of allowances to trainees.
In 2016, the issue of trainee teachers’ and nurses’ allowances was a major campaign subject, with the then-opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) promising to address the issue while the NDC threw a dagger into it by scrapping it.
However, the NDC has now agreed to pay the allowances. Under the new system, nursing and teacher trainees will receive their allowances at the same time as public sector workers.
President Mahama explained, “This means that any time public sector workers receive their monthly salary, teachers and nursing trainees will also receive their allowances.”
