Accra, Aug. 17, GNA- Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister of Education, says the National Education Institute (NEI) will offer long-term, tailor-made leadership programmes with certification for current and aspiring school heads, heads and staff of agencies of the Ministry of Education.
He said the establishment of the NEI had received cabinet approval and would be rolled out in February 2023.
The Institute will be set up by the Education Ministry with support from Jacobs Foundation and Big Win Philanthropy for strategy.
The Institute’s training programmes and materials will be developed and piloted nationwide.
Dr Adutwum announced this in his address at the Association of Supervisors and Curriculum Development (ASCD) stakeholders’ summit on the Education Leadership Development programme held in Accra.
The two-day summit is geared towards sharing ideas and coming out with plans and strategies for the piloting and rolling out of the National Education Institute (NEI) for the training of people in the education leadership arena.
The summit brought together various stakeholders in the education sector such as the Ministry of Education, Association of Supervisors and Curriculum Development (ASCD) with a potential partnership with the Institute for Education Planning and Administration (IEPA) from the University of Cape Coast and Cambridge Global Partnership for Education, among others.
Dr Adutwum, who is also the Member of Parliament for Bosomtwe, indicated that the Ministry was keen on strengthening school leadership to drive the agenda for reforms and learning, strengthen the education system and improve 21st-century skills for learners.
Dr Adutwum identified poor leadership and management, inefficient supervision, lack of accountability and inadequate teacher training as contributing to poor learning outcomes experienced in schools.
That, he said, was because many school leaders had not undergone professional training for their roles (beyond their years’ experience teaching in the classroom), which impacted children’s learning outcomes.
Dr Jill Harrison Berg, a Senior Advisor to Ghana ASCD, lauded Dr Adutwum for initiating the establishment of the NEI for the country to empower stakeholders in the nation’s education space.
She urged all stakeholders in the country to contribute to the rollout of the NEI which stood the chance of turning things around for the nation’s education outcomes since the training would retool the leaders to be more productive toward the transformation of the nation’s economy through education.
Dr Berg, who is also an education consultant, described the NEI establishment as very important and ambitious which could create an opportunity for students to attain their expected goals as well as receive many benefits from their education in the country for their well-being and the benefit of the country.
Dr Charles Yeboah, the Executive Director of ASCD Ghana, said the establishment of the NEI could fast-track improving learning outcomes at all levels of education in the country.
He stated that currently, a total of 70,000 educational leaders were being targeted to be trained over time but hinted that the piloting would involve 300 educational leaders from three regions yet to be selected to be used.
The Executive Director said it was hoped that 25 per cent of 70,000 would have been trained by 2025 as it drew from the general mix of education professionals, existing school leaders, aspiring school leaders, agency heads, regional, and district directors of education to benefit from the training.
GNA