By Naa Shormei Odonkor
Koforidua, July 18, GNA – The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) in collaboration with the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) has organized a two-day training workshop for basic school teachers to upgrade their teaching skills to ensure quality education.
This was to promote the Continuous Education and Professional Development (CEPD) of teachers as the existence of the teaching industry required constant updating of knowledge to fit into the global space.
Mr. Moses Baman Amadu Snr., the Deputy General Secretary for Education and Professional Development of GNAT in an address during the closing ceremony of the workshop for Cohort One, said the workshop was organized under the Project Overseas initiative.
“GNAT in collaboration with CTF designed this initiative to update teachers’ knowledge and skills to improve teaching and learning to ensure pupils’ retention in schools,” he said.
Mr. Amadu said the workshop which was in two phases, Cohort One which ended on Tuesday and Cohort Two which began on Wednesday, would cover about 700 participants from the same regions.
At the end of the workshop for Cohort One, he noted that 313 participants of the expected 350 participants, consisting of 158 males and 155 females turned out.
Mr Amadu described participants as foundation builders as they included the Early Grade and Lower Primary teachers, Upper Primary teachers, Junior High School teachers, head teachers and assistants.
Also, he said that the services of 17 seasoned and experienced facilitators and resource persons carefully selected from Ghana and Canada were employed for the training workshop.
Mr. Amadu listed classroom management, technology education, inclusive education, gender and culture among others as some of the topics discussed during the workshop to fully equip teachers for the classroom.
Additionally, teachers in deprived and underserved areas were given special training to help them navigate their way through the limited resources and opportunities available to them in their areas.
Mr Amadu admonished teachers to incorporate the knowledge gained from the workshop into their teaching practices by creating an environment to make pupils live and be interested in school.
“The future of the next generation is in the hands of the present crop of teachers which means that the future of Ghana is in the hands of teachers who play a pivotal role in the development of the nation,” he stated.
He encouraged the Ghana Education Service to place a premium on CEPD to enable teachers to meet global standards.
Mr Amadu appealed to stakeholders and the government to make resources available through the Ministry of Education to replicate the training workshop at the district level to train more teachers in the country.
GNA