The Atwima Mponua District in the Ashanti Region is losing an average of 150 teachers every year, worsening a staffing crisis that has left dozens of basic schools with critically low teacher numbers.
The Ghana Education Service (GES) District Public Relations Officer, Eric Aboagye, said the persistent turnover had contributed significantly to the district’s current shortage of 632 teachers.
He explained that many teachers posted to deprived communities leave the district after completing the required period of service, making it difficult to retain experienced staff in schools that need them most.
“For the past six years, I think a minimum of 150 teachers leave every year, and it’s just that the district is so big and it has so many deprived areas,” he said.
Mr Aboagye disclosed this at a ceremony held to celebrate the Headmistress of Mpasatia D/A Basic School, Bridgette Evelyn Prempeh, after she emerged as the second-place winner of Channel One TV’s 2025/2026 Community Legend initiative.
According to him, teachers posted to deprived communities are generally eligible to seek release after serving for about three years, creating a recurring cycle of recruitment and departures.
He said the situation had left the district struggling to maintain adequate staffing levels despite the continued deployment of teachers.
“As I’m speaking now, the directorate needs 632 teachers to fill various classrooms in the district,” he said.
The staffing gap, he added, has become particularly severe in some basic schools, with 34 schools currently having no more than three teachers each, including the headteacher.
Mr Aboagye described the situation as “very worrisome”, noting that the limited number of teachers places considerable pressure on those who remain in the schools.
The district’s size and the number of deprived communities, he said, continue to make teacher retention a major challenge.
The situation means that schools in deprived areas face not only shortages in numbers but also the regular loss of teachers who have gained experience and familiarity with the communities and schools.
Mr Aboagye’s comments highlight the need for measures to improve teacher retention in deprived communities as the district grapples with a staffing deficit of more than 600 teachers.
Without addressing the recurring departures, he suggested, new postings alone may not be sufficient to close the gap and provide schools across Atwima Mponua with stable teaching staff.
