The Realities of Teacher Distribution in Primary and Junior High Schools in Ghana: Experiences of Rural Areas in Sekyere Central District

Abstract

The study critically looked at teacher distribution in Ghana's Primary and Junior High Schools in Sekyere Central District; in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Data were gathered from Education Monitoring Information Systems (EMIS) from the District Education Office, Nsuta for the analysis. Evidence from the rural communities in teacher deployment for the 2021 academic year for 10 rural Primary Schools and 5 Junior High Schools depicted a gloomy picture because there was uneven teacher deployment to these areas where their services are needed. There was a huge teacher deficit in the rural communities so the question of quality and equitable education will not be achieved if policymakers fail to provide incentive packages to the rural teachers. The paper recommends that rural teachers' conditions of service should be different from those of their colleagues in the urban areas. When this is done, teacher manpower utilization and retention of teachers in rural communities would be improved.