The Chairman and other officials symbolically unveiling the Curriculum
A four year Bachelor of Education Curriculum to be rolled out in October 2019 has been launched by the School of Education and Leadership, College of Education. The occasion was also used to unveil the six colleges of education affiliated to the University, which was performed by Mr. Felix Nyarko-Pong, Chairman of the College of Education Advisory Board.
Prof. Patrick Ferdinand Ayeh Kumi, Provost College of Health Sciences, who chaired the ceremony on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, said that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 sought to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all. This, he noted, involved preparing and equipping all with the relevant 21st Century education and productive skills to achieve the desired goal.
He said contemporary education demands that teachers exhibit compassion, love, kindness, empathy, patience, grit, perseverance and respect for learners in their work, adding that teachers ought to have passion for teaching and genuine belief in every child’s ability to succeed and cater for the diverse needs of learners of all backgrounds while being skilled at classroom management.
Emphasizing on the need for the new pre-tertiary curriculum, Prof. Ayeh-Kumi said that the 4 year Bachelor of Education Degree will provide teacher trainees with sufficient time, intellectual rigour and exposure to practical teaching to enable them to be trained to the standard which Ghana deserves and require. With respect to proper standards, he opined that it will enable teachers to demonstrate the competencies required in the 21st century classroom, inspire children to learn, raise the status of the teaching profession, make it more attractive to new entrants and at the same time, improve the quality of teachers
He stressed on the need for teachers to exhibit professionalism, noting that professionalism creates an atmosphere of trust between teachers and stakeholders as well as persuade policy makers to engage teachers in curriculum development and make them autonomous and confident.
Outlining the reasons for poor performance of students in developing countries, Prof. Ayeh-Kumi stated that many initial teacher education programmes have outlived their usefulness as they have not been reformed in decades in line with modern trends of knowledge and skills acquisition. In addition he stated that in some cases, prospective teachers are trained for levels of education which are different from those at which they teach.
Prof. Patrick Ferdinand Ayeh Kumi
Later in his closing remarks, Prof. Patrick Ferdinand Ayeh Kumi called for more reforms in all sectors of the economy with keen interest in the informal sectors. This he indicated will transform lives and drive the country’s economy for sustained development.
Mr. Akwasi Addae Boahene, Chief Technical Advisor, Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL) programme who spoke on the purpose of the reform and the Bachelor Education Curriculum gave a background to the curriculum. According to him, the government in collaboration with Cambridge Education designed the six-year (2014-2020) T-TEL programme to transform teacher education as it was believed the existing teacher education has not sufficiently responded effectively to the expectations of the Ministry of Education. He revealed that the programme resulted in a national policy dialogue on teacher education which led to the production of National Teachers’ Standards and the National Teacher Education Curriculum Framework (NTECF) which was approved by Cabinet in September 2017.
Highlighting on the unique features of the Bachelor of Education curriculum, Mr. Boahene stated that it included progress in student-teacher learning and skill acquisition, integration of subject-specific content and pedagogy and assessment of trainees. He further stated that the University’s role was to offer faculty, assessment and Certification, as well as staff capacity building services to the Colleges of Education.
Mr. Akwasi Addae Boahene
Earlier in his remarks, Prof. Michael Tagoe, Ag. Provost, College of Education, University of Ghana, restated the mandate of the College of Education as an academic unit that places innovation at the heart of teaching and learning through the training of teachers at all levels. He mentioned that the implementation of the Four Year Bachelor of Basic Education Degree (B.Ed.) at the University of Ghana will allow the College understand the challenges that may be associated with the implementation and the opportunity to blend theory with practice and to find solutions to the problems of implementation.
In ensuring that the highest standard envisioned in the National Teachers’ Standards and the National Teacher Education Curriculum Framework are adhered to, Prof. Tagoe expressed the College’s readiness to work with the Ministry of Education, the National Council for Tertiary Education and the six affiliated Colleges. He further stated that the College will also ensure that affiliate institutions are mentored in the spirit of respect, integrity, commitment and excellence and core values of the University of Ghana.
Introducing the six Colleges of Education affiliated to the University, Prof. Jonathan Fletcher, Acting Dean, School of Education and Leadership reiterated the need for teachers to have values and standards in the discharge of their duties.
The six Colleges of Education affiliated to the University of Ghana are Accra College of Education, Enchi College of Education in the Western Region, Evangelical Presbyterian College of Education and Peki College of Education in the Volta Region, Gbewaa College of Education in the Upper East Region, and Mount Mary College of Education in the Eastern Region.
Present at the launch were members of the College of Education Advisory Board, Principals and representatives of the affiliated Colleges of Education, Deans, Directors and members of the University Community.
Group picture of officials after the event
