The Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has revealed that more than 40,000 applicants applied through the national teacher recruitment portal for just 7,000 available positions, highlighting the scale of demand for jobs in the sector.

Speaking on the sidelines of the eLearning Africa conference, Iddrisu said although Ghana continues to face a teacher deficit, financial constraints have limited recruitment.

According to him, the Ministry of Finance (Ghana) granted clearance for only 7,000 teachers to be employed, despite the country’s broader staffing needs.

“If resources were available, we should be recruiting up to 50,000 teachers across the country, but due to budgetary constraints, we are unable to do that,” he said.

The minister noted that the recruitment process was conducted in an open and transparent manner, with the portal attracting overwhelming interest shortly after it was launched.

“As the portal opened and the number reached 40,000, it was closed. The best 7,000 will be selected after careful assessment,” he added, assuring that merit will guide the final selection.

The recruitment portal has since been shut to prevent system overload, as authorities begin the process of vetting applicants.

The development underscores both the high unemployment pressures among trained teachers and the government’s fiscal limitations, even as it seeks to address gaps in staffing across schools nationwide.