In every era, advancement in the way of life is welcomed. In the other vein, every era/system has its own glitches but addressing the challenges makes the world keep going.

Ghana Education Service (GES) over the years used a manual method to recruit newly trained teachers however, under the leadership of Dr. Eric Nkansah, D-G of GES the Service has introduced a new module dubbed Self-Posting portal where all qualified newly trained teachers have to log in with their credentials and select the available school of their choice.

GES announces commencement of Regional verification for Newly Posted Teachers

Despite GES considering discussions that suggested that posting of teachers should be done based on the Ghanaian studied in College also, still, there are still some shortfalls with the introduced portal meant to address the problem(s).

How the GES Self-Posting Portal Works

THE SELF-POSTING MODULE

Qualified applicants are to do the following

1. Visit the www.gespromotions.gov.gh portal.
2. Enter their College Index Number to verify their
   qualification.
3. Enter their phone number and NTC number accurately.

This is crucial for validation and their successful application.

4. A One-Time Password (OTP) will be sent to the phone number provided by the applicant.
5. Enter their OTP.
6. Carefully select the preferred Region, District, and School and submit.
7. Save and print out the Appointment Letter.

Shortfall: Any applicant can perform this action on behalf of another person if they have the needed requested details for the process (this is security unwise).

GES Posting: How to access GES Appointment Letter Platform: Preferred school Selection Deadline

VERIFICATION

All the appointment letter has a QR Code for validation. Thus, you can simply scan the QR code with a smartphone to check its authenticity.

GES Self-Posting portal: Reason behind QR Code introduction on appointment letter

The introduction of the QR code according to GES seeks to eliminate the incidence of fake appointment letters.

After printing out the appointment letter, applicants must proceed to their respective Regional Education Directorates with their Ghana Card and other necessary documents for verification and further directives.

GES Recruitment: Documents to submit to Regional Office

The challenge with “the Regional verification and further directives”

Since GES is bent on addressing the challenges that come with the recruitment exercise over the years, it will be more appreciative if they factor the Master link verification into the process where the applicant will submit her/his appointment letter with an extension at “Print appointment letter”.

The system should be programmed to process/ validate the appointment letter (done online at the Regional office level without visiting the Regional office).

https://blowgrade.com/master-links-to-authenticate-appointment-letters-at-regional/

BENEFITS OF ONLINE VALIDATION

The online validation will cut off the traveling cost and stress Newly Posted Teachers go through which sometimes leads to death due to the bad road networks.
Also, it will employ graduates who studied IT and its related programmes that can help the system to function properly and efficiently.

SCHOOL PROGRAMMING AND SELECTION ON GES SELF-POSTING PORTAL

RATIONALE FOR GES SELF-POSTING

“The ‘self-posting’ recruitment module has the benefit of getting newly trained teachers to be posted to regions where language will not be a barrier. Thus, they can speak the local language (L1) to create a more effective teaching and learning environment,” GES stated.

On the ground- GES enrolled the system on July 5, 2024, as announced on July 4, 2024, in a press statement but it came with a few challenges.

SUGGESTIONS: HOW TO ADDRESS GES SELF-POSTING L1 CHALLENGES: CONSIDERING L1 IN GES SELF-POSTING

To consider the language barrier for teaching as stated by GES, the Service should consider integrating the studied courses from all Colleges of Education onto the portal.

Here, it means Ghanaian languages will be considered also. If an applicant studied a Ghanaian language in College it simply means she/he can teach in any community that speaks it.

“In addition, the teachers get the opportunity to select schools close to their families and enjoy the associated economic support,” GES stated on July 4, 2024, in a press release.

With distance and family bonding as said by GES, applicants should enter their place of stay when applying so that the system (as programmed) can determine the best distance from home for employment.

SECURITY BREACHES: SCHOOL SELECTION METHOD VIA THE GES SELF-POSTING PORTAL

After the first successful login, the applicant can exit the portal and return to continue since the deadline for the portal is not up to /or no number of attempts is set to guide it.

TAKE NOTE: Logging in the second time requires only the Index number.

Security Challenge: Unauthorized persons who know the index number (College index number) of the applicant can log in and select a school for another applicant.

For instance: Applicant B from the same college or any other college can log in with Applicant A’s Index number and select a school on their behalf without their knowledge.

This security breach has caused many already. Unauthorized persons logged in and selected a school without the consent of applicant A.

SUGGESTED SOLUTION

GES should consider giving a generated password to users (the new teachers) in place of the One-Time Password (OTP). With this, security is assured to an *extent.

SUGGESTED METHOD FOR SCHOOL SELECTION

Since Colleges of Education are now running specialized programs, I suggest that GES should redesign the new Self-Posting portal in a way that immediately after the applicant enters her/his index, the system will sort a list of schools for them to select from.

For instance: JACE/ECE/18/0400

JACE/PRI/18/0400

JACE/JHS/18/0400

The PRI in the Index number means the applicant studied a primary program therefore with an automated/programmed portal, schools should be sorted for that applicant easily in order for her/him to select from instead of the general selection that is going on.

With this, it simply means GES has to feed the portal with schools in accordance with the ECE/PRI/JHS programs as studied.

In the long run, subject teaching can also be introduced at the primary level just like that of the JHS level.

NB: On the grounds, school heads can insist that a Newly Posted Teacher irrespective of their studied program should be allocated a teach a class of their choice. A directive from D-G of GES can help address it.

Other views are welcome

GES Self-Posting portal improvement: The Good calls and suggestions

1. Introduce an online validation of appointment letters to reduce traveling costs and stress for newly posted teachers.
2. Integrate studied courses from Colleges of Education onto the portal to consider language barriers when posting.
3. Permit applicants to enter their place of stay to determine the best distance from home for employment.
4. Redesign the portal to sort schools based on the applicant’s studied program (ECE/PRI/JHS).
5. Introduce subject teaching at the primary level.
6. Work on the security breach.
   To address the security breach issue in the GES Self-Posting portal, consider the following measures: The suggested ways:
7. i- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Implement MFA to require users to provide additional verification beyond just their index number and OTP. This could include biometric data, a personal security question, or a code sent to their phone.
8. ii- Password Protection: Replace the OTP system with a robust password policy, ensuring users create strong, unique passwords that are regularly updated.
9. iii- Index Number Hashing: Store index numbers securely using hashing algorithms, making it difficult for unauthorized users to access or exploit them.
10. iv- Session Management: Implement secure session management to ensure users are logged out after a period of inactivity or when they close their browser.
11. v- Regular Security Audits: Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing to identify vulnerabilities and address them before they can be exploited.
12. vi- User Education: Educate users on security best practices, such as avoiding phishing scams and using strong passwords.
13. vii- Two-Step Verification for School Selection: Require users to confirm their school selection through a second verification step, such as a phone call or SMS confirmation.
14. viii- Monitoring and Incident Response: Establish a monitoring system to detect suspicious activity and have an incident response plan in place in case of a security breach.

By implementing these measures, the security breach issue can be effectively addressed, and the GES Self-Posting portal can be made more secure for users.

GESSelf-PostingPortal #GESPosting GESRecruitment

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