GOVT URGED TO UPGRADE TRAINING COLLEGES (PAGES 24 & 49)

Story: Nana Konadu Agyeman, Koforidua

THE Government has been called on to institute a support scheme to upgrade faculty and ancillary staff of the various colleges of education.
The acquisition of desired qualifications by such staff is expected to enable them to contribute meaningfully to the successful implementation of the new educational reform programme.
The Principal of the Seventh-Day Adventist College of Education at Koforidua, Mr A. Akumfi-Ameyaw, who made the appeal at the golden jubilee symposium of the National Principals Conference (PRINCOF) at Koforidua on Saturday, stated that "the institution of scholarships for staff to train in foreign universities will enhance their competencies to effectively handle tertiary level teaching and the management of our institutions".
The event, which was on the theme: "Ghana Education Reform of 2007-Its implications for teacher education", was attended by principals, teachers and students of the three colleges of education in the Eastern Region, namely the Presbyterian College of Education (PTC) at Akropong-Akuapem, the SDA College of Education at Asokore-Koforidua and the Mount Mary College of Education at Somanya.
The principal said the new educational reform demanded that continuous teacher development programme should be offered to serving teachers to enable them to upgrade and update their competencies and skills to be in a better position to offer quality teaching and learning.
He stressed that it was in the same regard that staff capacity building programmes should also be offered to staff of the various colleges of education to pursue sandwich courses and other higher education to obtain the necessary qualifications in various disciplines.
"It is candidly suggested that apart from the training in our universities, staff from the colleges of education could be given government scholarships to train in foreign universities to enable them to contribute towards the successful implementation of the new education reform," Mr Akumfi-Ameyaw appealed.
According to him, for the country to achieve a middle-income status by 2015, special attention should be given to the training of teachers in technical, vocational, agricultural, and special needs education, guidance and counselling, and information and communication technology.
The principal commended the government for providing the various colleges of education with computers but stressed the need for such institutions to have well-equipped ICT facilities with new and modern computers with internet connectivity.
"Judging from the increasing number of anxious teacher trainees, the humble appeal is that the number of computers in the colleges of education must be increased considerably," he stated.
For his part, the Director of Basic Education Division of the Ghana Education Service, Mr Stephen Adu, said since the youth constituted the greatest asset of every nation that needed to be harnessed, the government was making every effort to make education accessible to all children of school age to acquire the relevant knowledge and skills.
He, however, identified the teacher as the major challenge to the new educational reform, saying that "the outcome of the innovations introduced in our educational system will depend to a great extent on the supply of good quality teachers".
Mr Adu therefore called for the institution of appropriate training programmes at all the colleges of education to ensure that "teachers we turn out are of high standard to meet the demand for the success of the new reform programme".