The National Service Scheme (NSS) and the National Teaching Council (NTC) yesterday launched a pedagogy training for untrained teachers on the Scheme’s teaching module.
The programme will allow national service personnel posted to the classrooms without teaching certificates, but who are willing to teach after their service, to obtain professional teaching certificates.
Present at the launch were Akosua Osei-Opare, Chief of Staff; Dr. Christian Addai Poku, NTC Registrar; Dr. Eric Nkansah, GES acting Director General; Mawusi Awitey, TVET Director General, Vice Chancellors, among others.
The Executive Director of the NSS, Osei Assibey Antwi, explained that the programme is in fulfilment of the provisions of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act 2020, (Act 1023), which enjoins the NTC to ensure that only professionally trained and qualified teachers are deployed to teach in schools.
According to him, the award of the temporary certificates is also to equip the personnel with the minimal skills to aid them teach efficiently.
He further disclosed that this year, for instance, his outfit deployed 51, 000 personnel to support GES, out of which 36,000 are going to support public basic school whilst others assist the private ones.
“This means that they are there as formidable partners. This is the first time such collaboration between the NSS, NTC, GES, MOE is being carried out to orient the service persons that are going into teaching,” he stated.
Mr Assibey Antwi said on completion of the one-year online professional teacher training programme, the service persons will be issued with postgraduate certificates in education, and register for the teacher licensure examination to become professional teachers, after which they will be considered for employment by the GES.
Collaboration
Mr Assibey Antwi said the Scheme is collaborating with the relevant stakeholders such as the NTC, T-Tel, GES, GTEC, PRINCOF, Ghana Technical Vocational Education and Training Services, and the Vice-Chancellors of the five public universities that train teachers to deliver this important training.
He further pointed out that his outfit had initiated a number of interventions such as the NSS in Affordable Housing, NSS Youth and Women in Agriculture, among others.
These initiatives, he said, are aimed at supporting the country’s development agenda as well as creating sustainable job opportunities for the graduate youth.
“The Scheme has also introduced the NSS-Ministry of Tourism and Culture Support Programme, which aims at aiding the hospitality industry and allied sectors with professionals in order to boost the tourism sector. These and many others are geared towards improving the employment rate of personnel after their one-year mandatory service to the nation,” he noted.
To this end, the NSS Executive Director urged NASPA and all service personnel to embrace these opportunities to transition into jobs after the training and certification. Accordingly, the Scheme’s new mission of “Deployment for Employment” is deemed crucial to enhancing the welfare of personnel for economic revitalisation and national development.
Efficiency
The Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, said the programme will make the NSS persons more efficient as they support various agencies to help deliver effective educational curriculum in the classroom. He added that it also reaffirms government’s commitment to creating a robust education system towards providing quality education for national development.
“With this important programme in place, it will ensure that persons enter the classroom with some skills to succeed, whether they’re supporting teachers or in cases where we’ve a Physics, Chemistry, Biology graduate from KNUST, who are now going to be in the classroom teaching…It will enable them do some lesson plan. The orientation of right teaching and learning methods, the personnel will also help pupils to be thoughtful and assertive in asking critical thinkers,” he added.
The Education Minister further thanked the NTC, GES, NSS and other stakeholders for their leadership role, which has culminated in the programme.
Commending the NSS Executive Director, he said, as a sign of government’s transformational agenda towards the development of education, his Ministry would pursue a rigorous education system that will protect prospects of Ghana’s future.
