GNAT/CTF schools rural teachers in Central Region

By Isaac Arkoh, GNA

Cape Coast, July 29, GNA - The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), in collaboration with the Canadian Teachers Federation (CTF), has ended a five-day in-service training workshop for 165 selected rural teachers in the Central Region.

The initiative has been designed to update teachers’ knowledge and skills to improve teaching, learning and ensure pupils’ retention in schools.

The annual event spanning over 57 years, was held on the auspices of "GNAT/CTF 'Nkabom' Project Overseas in-Service Training Workshop” for teachers in the Region.

Under the Nkabom project, teachers serving in deprived and under-served areas are given special training to improve their teaching skills and creativity.

The course also emphasised on gender issues and encourages greater community participation in the development of education in their respective communities.

Furthermore, an aspect of the programme, known as "The Beginning Teachers’ Mentorship," is dedicated to help and equip newly posted teachers who have not served more than three years in the system to find their feet in the realities of the teaching profession in Ghana.

 At a closing ceremony, Mr Kwamena Ahenakwa-Quarshie, the Labour Relations and Condition of Service officer at GNAT headquarters, pledged their resolve not to renege on continuous education and professional development of their members.

As a major stakeholder in education in Ghana, GNAT believed in the right of every Ghanaian child to free quality basic education as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution and in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In that regard, he was grateful to CTF for the gesture, which was to build the capacity of members towards the implementation of the new curriculum beginning September 2019 and expressed the hope that the intervention would significantly boost the confidence and morale of teachers and charged them to impart the knowledge acquired to others.

Mr Ahenakwa-Quarshie stated that the future of the next generation was in the hands of the present crop of teachers adding, "All teachers should strive to give nothing short of quality education to the Ghanaian child".

Consequently, it should be the primary concern of the government and all other stakeholders in the education enterprise to ensure the training of quality teachers and maintain them in the classroom.

Speaking on behalf the Canadian team and Ghanaian facilitators, Mr Hugo Prud'homme, Team Leader, commended GNAT for maintaining decades of solid collaboration in promoting quality education.

Ghana's excellent relationship with Canada had been further strengthened on CTF mission of promoting the well-being and education of all children and the youth.

“In our complex and rapidly changing society, lifelong learning is a right and responsibility of all people and from this perspective the education of children and young people is a crucial phase”, he observed.

GNA

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