The Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS) has provided training to more than 300 teachers in private schools in Awutu Senya East municipality to ensure that they meet the minimum teaching qualifications required by government within the next three years.
The five-day teacher professionalism courses provided by GNAPS aimed to equip the teachers with modern teaching skills.
According to Dennis Osei Owusu, Head of Public Affairs for the National Teaching Council, the move was in response to government's directive that the minimum qualification for teachers in classrooms should be a degree.
“We have seen that most of the private schools don't recruit teachers who are already professionals. In order not to disadvantage anybody, we believe that the best thing to do is to offer training to such teachers to teach for a period of three years and by that time they must have prepared themselves well to sit for the licensure exams,” Owusu said in an interview.
Owusu urged private school teachers without the necessary qualifications to take part in the exercise, describing it as a great opportunity for them to improve themselves and remain in the profession.
Some private school teachers expressed excitement after the training and its potential positive impact on their classrooms. However, some school owners raised concerns about the high taxes levied on private schools, calling on government to reduce them to allow for more effective operations.
Mary Gifty Nyatsikah, Proprietress of Streams in the Desert School Complex and Municipal Chairperson of the Ghana National Association of Private Schools Municipal B, highlighted the struggles that private schools face in ensuring sustainability and urged government to provide financial support to the sector.
The training has come at a critical time when private school teachers need to upgrade to leverage all teaching methods, according to Nyatsikah.
Nicholas Wachoba, chairman of the Ghana National Association of Private Schools Municipal A, also called on government to reduce the registration fee for the Basic Education Certificate Examination, as parents are already overburdened with financial responsibilities.
Teachers who took part in the training expressed their appreciation, saying it would provide them with a platform to move higher in their profession by further attaining a teacher's license in the coming years.
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