By Edward Williams, GNA
Hohoe (V/R), Jan. 30, GNA – Dr Eric Nkansah, Technical Advisor and Director in charge of Tertiary Education at the Ministry of Education says the government would continue to chart a pathway on key educational reforms targeted at transforming teaching and learning and improve outcomes.
He said one such crucial initiative, the Education Strategic Plan (ESP 2018-2030) is expected to contribute to the goals of the ESP and the Sustainable Development Goal 4 and ultimately lead to the improvement of learning outcomes, especially at the pre-tertiary levels.
Dr Nkansah said this at the 60th Anniversary celebrations of St Teresa’s College of Education (TERESCO), at Hohoe.
It was under the theme: “60 years of Sustainable Teacher Education: The Role of the Innovative Teacher, Changing Global Trends in Education.”
He said three main priorities of the education reforms were improved learning outcomes, enhanced accountability, and equity at all levels of the education sector to make the educational system relevant to changing national development priorities and renewed goals and aspirations.
Dr Nkansah noted that the government was working hard to promote female teacher development and girls’ success in schools through enhanced gender-responsive practices across the teacher education sector and also encouraging women’s recruitment into male-dominated disciplines, such as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) related fields.
He said the College, though small, had achieved a lot and contributed significantly to the development of education in Ghana.
Mr Akwasi Addae-Boahene, Key Technical Advisor, Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL), noted that it was the College’s responsibility to empower its students to take risks, be innovative and seize any opportunity thrown their way.
“Teachers who graduate from this College, therefore, must be teachers of the future and be prepared to be data collectors, as curriculum experts, problem solvers, researchers, analysts, planners, collaborators, and synthesizers.”
He said the role of teacher training institutions like TERESCO was preparing teachers who could give children the skills they needed for the future and how the skill could secure them employment or a livelihood.
Mr Addae-Boahene said teachers and teacher educators needed to be versatile and competent in the use of education and digital technologies to enhance teaching and learning in the era of technological advancement.
“This is the only way in which you can be in the forefront of preparing the next generation of Ghanaian innovators, thinkers, and creators to drive our socio-economic and scientific advancement and participate in the global knowledge economy.”
Ms Sophia Adjoa Micah, Principal of the College, said the College had achieved a lot over the years as a result of the hard work and dedication of its staff and students and support from stakeholders.
She said the College not being properly walled remained a challenge since lives and properties were at the mercy of stray animals and thieves as well as encroachers adding that the use of the College’s Internally Generated Fund brought the wall project to 40 percent and called for support towards.
Ms Micah noted that the College needed a Hall of Residence that befitted its status and could accommodate more students, completion of its auditorium project, which stalled adding that the dining hall was now serving multi-purposes.
She said the College needed a bigger Home Economic Department, a science laboratory to support practical science teaching and learning, a clinic to cater for students and staff, a face-lift of the road network, and a constant supply of electricity.
The College, over the years, produced a good number of teachers for Ghana and beyond with some served and serving as classroom teachers while others have progressed to become heads of institutions among others
The College’s new refurbished Administration Block from its GETFund allocation was also commissioned and named after Bishop Emeritus Francis A. K. Lodonu of Ho Diocese while the College awaits approval and financial clearance to embark on the last phase of the project, which comprises the external works.
Awards and citations were presented to students, tutors, staff, former staff of the College including Ms Cecilia Y. Tibu, the first Ghanaian Substantive Principal of the College from 1973-1978.
GNA
