30% of teachers do not qualify to teach in Ghana – NTC Registrar

Dr Christian Addai Poku, the Registrar of the National Teaching Council following his outfit’s effort to professionalize teaching has said that more than 30 per cent of teachers in the country do not qualify to teach in various classrooms.

Speaking at the launch of private school teachers’ continuous professional development (PST-CPD), he said it is for this reason his outfit is collaborating with the Private Schools Council to roll out a programme for the untrained teachers.

“The kind of materials we are admitting into our Teacher Training Institutions some of them do not meet the standards, so it is better to get this right at the beginning so that when they come out they will meet standards,” Dr Poku stated.

About 14,000 of the 30% of teachers that do not meet the National Teaching Council’s standard to teach, the Registrar of the NTC disclosed work with the Ghana Education Service and other related agencies under the Education Ministry.

As part of the National Teaching Council (NTC) efforts to ensure the majority of teachers in the country are licensed, Mr Addia Poku said plans are far advanced for some 2,000 unlicensed private school teachers to be trained by his outfit.

Dr Christian Addia Poku indicated that over 1,000 private school teachers in the country will be trained on how to effectively teach literacy and numeracy to improve their in-depth knowledge in the teaching profession.

“The training will form the basis for pilot training of unqualified teachers to equip them with the best practices on how to teach literacy and numeracy and also have in-depth knowledge of professional practice and conduct

We do acknowledge that there are a lot of untrained teachers who are well adept in their content knowledge and need a bit of pedagogy to deliver effectively,” the Registrar of the National Teaching Council, Dr Addai Poku noted.

The National Executive Director of the Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS), Mr Enoch Kwasi Gyetuah in an interview told AcademicWeek NTC after the workshop will issue participants a temporary teaching license.

The Private Schools Director said the soon-to-begin training and issuance of the temporary license to some private school teachers in the country form part of efforts to promote teacher professionalism in the private education sector.