46 Teacher Training Colleges to get ¢4.6m to boost skills upgrade

The government has launched a ¢4.6 million Transition Support Fund for teaching and non-teaching staff in all 46 Public Colleges of Education.

The fund is to be used for the professional development and upgrading of both teaching and non-teaching staff, Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Education, Vincent Ekow Assifuah indicated in a release.

The fund was launched Friday, June 21, by Education Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, at the St Louis College of Education in the Ashanti Region capital, Kumasi, during their 15th Congregation ceremony.

“The Government of H.E Nana Akufo Addo will continue to work and make sure that Ghana’s teaching graduates are equipped to deliver high-quality, inspirational teaching in schools,” Dr Opoku Prempeh said.

According to the Minister, the ¢4.6 million Transition Support Fund is an investment which the Ministry of Education is making, with the assistance of UK aid (through the Transforming Teacher Education and Learning in Ghana Programme), to upgrade the qualifications of teaching and non-teaching staff across all 46 public Colleges of Education.

He said the fund will help to support the Ministry of Education’s ongoing efforts to ensure that all tutors have at least a Masters in Research degree by 2022.

He explained that Colleges of Education will be able to access up to ¢100,000 each which they can then use for the professional development and upgrading of their staff.

“To access this, ¢100,000, each College will have to demonstrate that they are implementing the new B.Ed curriculum in line with two key national policy documents- the National Teachers’ Standards (NTS) and the National Teacher Education Curriculum Framework (NTECF).

“The National Teachers’ Standards (NTS) – sets out what is meant by a ‘good teacher’ and the National Teacher Education Curriculum Framework (NTECF) – sets out what is required in initial teacher training to produce ‘good teachers’”, he added.

Colleges of Education can also use the Funds as they see fit in order to prepare themselves to be strong tertiary institutions capable of delivering effective high-quality B.Ed. programmes.

It is expected that both teaching and non-teaching staff of the Colleges will access the fund to upgrade their training to enable them to render their services effectively.