Teachers to write exams for license
The National Teachers Council (NTC) of the Ministry of Education has announced that teachers will now have to pass a special examination before being granted the license to teach.
The move, according to the NTC, is to enforce discipline and eliminate non-performing teachers from the system, in accordance with the new Teachers Licensing Policy under the Education Act 778 (2008).
Dr. Augustine Tawiah, Executive Secretary-designate of the National Teaching Council of the Ministry of Education, disclosed this in Accra last week at the closing ceremony of a five-day intensive in-service training workshop for teachers in the Greater Accra Region.
The workshop which was attended by 297 subject teachers in the Primary, Junior and Senior High Schools was organized by the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) with support from the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF).
According to Dr. Tawiah, all formalities for the full implementation of the Act had been finalized and a secretariat to issue the license had been established.
He disclosed that beginning next January; the ministry would undertake re-registration of all teachers in the country to facilitate the issuance of the licenses.
He said, no teacher could teach in any school in the country without the Teacher’s License from next year. Dr. Tawiah explained that renewal of the license would be based on professional competence and development of teachers, stressing that, all teachers would be expected to renew their license within three to five years.
“There are some teachers who, right after graduation from the training colleges, do not upgrade their knowledge in their subject areas and also do not upgrade their teaching skills and methodology. Teachers who would apply for renewal of license must prove they have personally undertaken some professional upgrading of knowledge and skills” he said.
Dr. Tawiah mentioned that teachers who teach students to fail continuously in examinations like the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and other local and national examinations would not get their licenses renewed.
ahotoronline.com|Ghana
