'Make quality your main agenda'

Page 11
June 30, 2008

THE General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Mrs Irene Duncan-Adanusah, has stressed the need for teachers to make quality the main agenda under the current education reform.
According to her, teachers should be more concerned with the delivery of quality education when in the classroom to ensure that the reform achieved the desired objectives.
Mrs Duncan-Adanusah stated this at a colloquium organised by the Consultative Council for Teachers Association (CCTA) of GNAT.
The programme, which was attended by teachers from the 10 regions, was on the theme “The Educational Reform of Ghana-Challenges”.
Mrs Duncan-Adanusah noted that the issue of education challenges were being discussed all over the world, hence the need to find solutions to them so as to move forward as a nation.
According to her, a lot of resources would be required to achieve the Education For All (EFA) goals, adding that early childhood education for instance should not be left to care givers alone since it was a speciality that required professionals.
A lecturer at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Mr Jakalia Abdulai, who presented a paper on “Ensuring Effective Development of Language Skills at the Pre-tertiary Level”, suggested the institution of an extensive reading policy.
That, he said, should be carried out from the national to the community level, saying that time should be allocated in schools for sustained silent reading to ensure the effective development of language skills.
He said the academic language of some students was not encouraging, especially in the use of English.
The acting Dean of the Faculty of Educational Studies at UEW, Prof Grace Yawo Gadagbui, who spoke on “Lifting Aspirations in Special Needs Education”, underscored the need for all to embrace inclusive education .
She said when children studied together, it ensured an inclusive society.
Speaking on the topic, “Strengthening Early Childhood Education in the Country”, Mrs Ruth Addison of the Ghana National Commission on Children said about 22,000 teachers had been trained in early childhood development.
She called for the attachment of kindergartens to all basic schools, and implored teachers at that level to have a change of mindset and provide quality education.
The educational reform, which took off in September last year, focuses, among other things, on content and structure, teacher education, Informational and Communication Technology (ICT), technical and vocational education training, as well as management efficiency and effectiveness.