PRINCOF approves the College of Education entrance examination

The Conference of Principals of College of Education (PRINCOF) has endorsed the conduct of the newly introduced entrance examination for WASSCE graduates seeking admission into various public Colleges of Education in 2023.

In an interview monitored by AcademicWeek.com, the President of PRINCOF, Emmanuel Nyamekye said fresh students seeking to pursue teacher education in Teacher Training institutions will be tested on numeracy and literacy.

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“The entrance exams will ensure we have people who are committed and can go through the training programme successfully. It is not an entirely new examination, we used to do that in the early ’90s,” the College President stated.

The 2023 edition of the entrance test which will not be based on College minimum entry requirements, Mr Nyamekye said will allow public Colleges of Education to determine who qualifies to be licensed as a professional teacher.

“We are looking for quality teachers and not the quantity we produce each year, we want to be sure that even if there are few teachers they are the ones best suited to teach after their training,” the Director of PRINCOF told stakeholders.

Meanwhile, Education Policy Research – Africa Education Watch has called on the Ministry of Education (MoE) to extend the conduct of the newly introduced entrance examination to all tertiary institutions across the country.

The Watch appeal comes after the Registrar of the National Teaching Council (NTC), Dr Christian Addai Poku said WASSCE for School results only cannot be relied on to give students admission into various Colleges of Education.

He said only candidates who will pass the entrance test dubbed the Ghana Basic Education Skills Examination Test (GBEST) will be considered for admission to pursue various teacher education programmes in Colleges of Education.

The Ghana Basic Education Skills Examination Test (GBEST), Dr Addai also said will ensure students seeking to pursue teacher education in various public teacher training institutions are qualified to be trained as professional teachers.

“If for quality assurance, you can’t rely on that, warranting an entrance exam in Maths & English, fine. But, apply the same to all tertiary institutions. Quality matters everywhere,” the Executive Director of EduWatch, Kofi Asare said.