‘Every civilized nation licenses teachers’ - NAGRAT, others told

‘Every civilized nation licenses teachers’ – NAGRAT, others told

Innovative Teachers, an organisation that champions the interest of Ghanaian teachers, wants opposition to the proposal to license teachers through a professional examination to stop.
Head of the Organisation, Steven Densu, says the move will improve teacher-quality and is consistent current global trends.
“In line with professional status of teachers and in line with international standards, every teacher must be licensed before they can teach – in every civilized nation. So if Ghana is going to be part of that league, there is nothing wrong with that, absolutely,” he said on current affairs programme, PM Express, Thursday.

Mr Densu’s comments are in reaction to opposition by the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) to the proposal by the National Teaching Council (NTC).

NAGRAT and GNAT say NTC went public with the policy when their input has not been adequately sought.

Head of NAGRAT, Angel Cabonu, has sworn that his outfit will resist the implementation of the policy if they are not engaged.




Related: If you want us licensed, pay for it- NAGRAT tells gov’t

Video: Writing exams for teaching licenses is superfluous – IFEST

 GNAT demands clear pathway

Deputy General Secretary of GNAT, Education and Professional Development, Gifty Apanbil, who was also on PM Express to discuss the issue said although the policy is good there should be clarity in processes and procedure for implementation.

We are in support of the idea that teachers should be licensed. But what we are saying is that a policy is as good as the processes and procedure [for implementation],” she said.

She said discussions on the processes and procedure for licensing teachers should not be halted before the planned implementation in September this year.

“It should be completed for all of us to understand how the processes and procedures are going to be rolled out,” she reiterated.

NTC stirs controversy

The NTC, which is part of the Ministry of Education, stirred controversy when it announced that teachers will now have to pass a special examination before being granted the licence to teach.

Related: Licensing regime: We are not at war- NTC tells teacher unions

The move, according to the NTC, is to enforce discipline and eliminate non-performing teachers from the system, in accordance with the new Teachers Licencing Policy under the Education Act 778 (2008).

Executive Secretary-designate of the Council, Dr. Augustine Tawiah, disclosed this in Accra last week at the closing ceremony of a five-day intensive in-service training workshop for teachers in the Greater Accra Region.

Watch the full discussion on PM Express in the video below.

 

 

Source:Myjoyonline




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