A retired educationist, Mr Stephen Teye Adjabeng, has suggested to teacher training institutions to re-consider the mode of admission to colleges of education by ensuring that not only the best candidates are chosen but also those who have the profession at heart.
Mr Adjabeng said the situation where students were admitted on-line was not the best, since wrong persons could get opportunities to the detriment of serious ones.
“On-line admissions without entrance examination and proper screening of applicants is not the best and will not help the education sector to get the quality of teachers the country needs for its development,” he stated.
He equally called for more attention at the basic level, saying when the country’s educational foundation was good and solid, it would in turn produce quality human resource for the country.
Conference
Mr Adjabeng was speaking on the theme: “The Teacher: The key to Transforming Societies through Education, the 2030 Agenda” at the fifth Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), held at Somanya in the Eastern Region.
He noted that if the teacher was to be key in transforming societies, “then the teacher must be a serious focus in our colleges of education.”
On corruption, Mr Adjabeng said the fight against corruption could begin at the basic level by ensuring that citizenship, religious and moral education on values and cherished customs and traditions were taught through storytelling and other methods.
Training
The Yilo Krobo GNAT Secretary, Madam Lydia Ama Fuah, said some teachers at the basic level benefited from a week-long in-service training last year, and that the exercise would be extended to teachers handling core Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) subjects.
She said the association would continue to support teachers with in-service training in order to build their capacities.
The Eastern Regional GNAT Chairman, Rev. M. Munyuhitum, observed that some textbooks at the basic level contained errors and, therefore, appealed to the Ghana Education Service to always do proper editing of the books before publication.
Election
At the end of the conference, Akuteye Tetteh, Sylvester Agbeko Hottor, Deborah Mensah and Believe Ama Amoah were elected chairman, vice-chairman, treasurer, and trustee respectively for the next four years.
Others were Youth Coordinator, Lord Agbemabiase; Basic Schools Coordinator, Georgina Agbortor; Senior High School Coordinator, Emmanuel Twum, and GNAT-LAS Coordinator, Victoria Affram.
The rest were Education Office Representative, Alexander Amponsah Boadu, and College Of Education Representative, Emmanuel Ziddah Agboklatsi.
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