This study examined the basis of appointing cooperation school teachers as mentors during off teaching practice for student teachers from the Department of Basic Education of the Faculty of Education, University for Development Studies - Ghana. The study explores survey research design and quantitative research approach to collect, analyse, and report the data. A census survey was employed to engage all the head teachers from 40 public cooperating Basic schools in the Tamale Metropolis and Sagnarigu Municipality of the Northern Region of Ghana where the 2018/2019 batch of the Student teachers were posted for their off-Campus Teaching Practice. Data were gathered using a questionnaire and the results were analysed with the aid of SPSS. The study revealed that the cooperative basic schools do not have any documented criteria or standard for appointing the cooperating teachers as mentors. It became known that, the head teachers do not consult both teachers and the student-teachers before pairing them for the mentoring programme. The study revealed that being a professionally trained teacher is not highly considered during the selection of mentors. However, being a class teacher or subject base teacher is what is most considered for appointment. The study, therefore, recommends that, the Universities and the Ghana education service should provide the cooperating schools with a clear policy stating who qualifies to be a mentor for the student teachers. The head teachers should consult both the teachers and the student teachers before pairing them for the mentoring process.

Keywords: Cooperating School; Off-Campus; Teaching Practice; Mentoring; Student Teacher. Introduction