A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) communications team, Ibrahim Bashiru, has said President Mahama has failed to fulfil his promise to abolish teacher licensure exams, a pledge the president reportedly made to teachers during his campaign.

Speaking in an interview, Mr Bashiru emphasised that during an election candidates sign a social contract with the electorate, which brought the National Democratic Congress (NDC) into power.

He argued that, having been elected, President Mahama has not yet fulfilled that promise.

“When you into an election you sign a social contract with the people that vote for me because I am going to do A,B,C that if you get the opportunity to govern the country you will fulfill that social contract, now when he was campaigning his excellency the president visited most of the teachers training institutions and you have the videos.

"He was very clear, we will cancel teacher licensure exams," he said.

Mr Bashiru explained the rationale for the Ghana Education Service’s (GES) introduction of teacher licensure exams. He indicated that the licence provides proof that a person is a professional, particularly when they seek work abroad.

He revealed that the licence distinguishes a degree‑holder from a qualified teacher, which foreign employers often demand.

“Normally when you go to the outside to teach, anyone can have a degree so the requirements is that then show me your license and that is what distinguish you from any other person who owns a degree and that is why GES decided to introduce licensure exams. That was the rationale behind for introducing licensure exams,” he stated.

Mr Bashiru pointed out that the president honoured his pledge to abolish the e‑levy and told Ghanaians that he had fulfilled that promise, noting he should likewise abolish the teacher licensure exams plainly, “without spicing it.”