Accra, Nov. 8, GNA – The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) will ensure that the Colleges of Education (CoE) will update their curricula to produce graduates to teach the well-equipped and critical thinking population need to move the country forward.
CoE now run four year Bachelor of Education programmes; teacher trainees now graduate with Bachelor’s degrees, and teachers will not need to take study leave to go back to acquire the degree, the NPP stated in its Election 2020 Manifesto.
The NPP in its Election 2020 manifesto sub-headline; ‘Accounting to the People – Education,’ explained that it undertook a national education audit of skills and competencies in a bid to align training opportunities and resources to respond to national and local human resource demands.
The national audit of skills has been completed by the Council for Technical and Vocational Education Training (COTVET); an online educational platform to host, stream, and share short videos of mini lectures to classrooms or offices around the country has been developed.
The NPP recounted that, E-Learning portal was developed (www.icampusgh.com) and included all Senior High Schools (SHS) 1-3 core subjects, the website is live.
To ensure proper decentralisation of teacher recruitment and management; Teacher recruitment since 2017 was done at regional levels. Documentation done at District and Regional levels.
The NPP Government also restored Teacher Trainee training allowance; restored allowances paid to Arabic/Islamic instructors under the national volunteer service programme; and restored book and research allowances for lecturers. “We have not only restored it we have increased it by 200 per cent”.
The educational accomplishment as captured in its Election 2020 Manifesto also included; the introduction of History of Ghana as a subject for primary schools.
Over 180 Master Trainers, 3,900 District level Trainers, and 152,000 teachers were trained for this purpose.
Integrate school sports as part of school activities, provided Free Physical Education kits to students under the Free SHS programme; and abolish the payment of utility bills by students in tertiary Institutions.
The NPP Government has redefined basic education from Kindergarten to include SHS, covering vocational, agricultural and technical schools; implement the flagship education policy; “Free SHS” on a Universal Basis.
Due to the policy current enrolment at SHS level stands at 1,199,750 students from 2017 to 2019. This is not limited to arts, business, and science subjects: it also covers Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET), in essence, the initiative is “Free SHS and TVET.”
The NPP Government also absorbed in 2019 BECE and in 2020 WASSCE examination fees; Increase amount of loans under the Student Loan Scheme by 50 per cent and establish a manufacturing plant at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
The NPP stressed that the National Inspectorate Board (NIB) was operationalised, staffed, and provided with infrastructural and technical support to enable it carry out its mandate.
With these resources, the NIB has been able to digitise its data collection system, built a secure and comprehensive database for schools’ inspection and trained a team of inspectors.
The NIB has also provided effective and professional guidance and counselling services to pupils; Manuals prepared for basic schools; whiles 80 per cent of SHSs have coordinators.
The NPP Government has also strengthened the participation of Missions in Mission-founded schools; Faith-Based Organisations (FBOs.
GNA