The Deputy Minister of Education, Dr John Ntim Fordjour has said that the Ministry will sustain the licensure examination for teachers.
This, according to him, will ensure the churning out of professional teachers for the education sector.
Mr Ntim Fordjour said this during the launch of this year’s Ghana Teacher Prize in Accra.
He added that the call to ban the teacher licensure examination, as made by the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will not help the sector.
“There have been many reforms. We have never put a framework that recognizes our teachers as professionals, there came the introduction of the licensure exams and now teachers have the framework to be recognized as professionals upon whose shoulders every other professional will stand,” he stated.
October 5 of every year has been set aside globally to commemorate the immeasurable role of teachers. It also to underscore the strong commitment of teachers to churning out quality students despite inadequate education resources.
This year’s theme is, “Celebrating excellence, valorizing our teachers.” The event will be held in Kumasi, capital of the Ashanti Region.
Ahead of that, issues about teacher motivation and the licensure exams have been of a major concern to stakeholders.
Education stakeholders such as the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) and Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) have complained about resources for the education sector.
According to the General Secretary of GNAT, Thomas Musah Tanko, government should increase funding to about 20% to support infrastructure in the sector.
“Every year, at least 20 percent of government expenditure must be committed to education but that is not so. We are currently doing around three percent, and now basic education has been the biggest casualty,” he said.
The Deputy Minister of Education pledged the strong commitment of government to providing the resources.
The Director General of the Ghana Education Service, Dr Eric Nkansah, underscored the need to roll out innovations support teachers.
“We have worked to ensure the basic issues such as teacher upgrades, promotions, transfer among others have been prioritized to receive the needed attention of the management of the Ghana Education Service,” he said.
Other speakers lauded the efforts of teachers in spearheading the education sector.
