Opinion – Ensuring Teacher Professional Development

The future of every nation depends on the kind of education given to her children, a nation’s history and culture and above all their national philosophy which characterizes their struggle in every field of life are transferred into her generations through education. In doing this it will require agents with just the requisite orientation for that job. This is where our institutions tasked to produce those personalities are examined, like the Ministry of Education (MoE), Ghana Education Service (GES) and the various councils as specified in the 2008 education act 778. It should not be forgotten that these institutions are supposed to be coordinated to work jointly to avoid disjunct policies for an obviously the same course. For instance the institutions task to train teachers are the higher educational institutions literally under the Council for Tertiary Education but the policy for the education and teacher education is normally carried out by The National Teaching Council (NTC) so it presupposes a tacit cohabitation between the two councils for cooperation.

The Education Act 2008 (ACT 778) Section 7 has categorically given the task of teacher training and certification to the NTC. The NTC is currently working on teacher licensing exams to guarantee professionalism in the sector of which I have long anticipated. Not only will quality be ensured it will as well guarantee equal opportunity to all students across the country even students in deprived areas to have the service of professional teachers hence uniformity  and social justice would have somewhat be achieved.

The Teacher licensing policy; just like some other policies in Ghana is spontaneous, unempirical and made without enough strategic policy background. Is been two months since the government announced the implementation of a globally eminent policy; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) (http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/media-center/news/4201-s-t-e-m-education-prioty-to-government-president-akufo-addo) but it is sad to know that most teachers have no idea what that is despite STEM long history in Ghana. The ministry announced licensing exams for teachers without a policy background, how did we get here? Just a vague quest for quality is the reason? The policy document on which the examination system is supposed to base on is the 2013 Pre-Tertiary Teacher Professional Development and Management policy (PTPDM) which was mainly built on in service training aimed at equipping teachers with skills for them to attain professionalism via several stages of In-service Training (INSET). For instance the policy defines a licensed teacher as someone who has completed an accredited program for induction. The policy further stated that an induction program shall be an inset program within a year for a beginning teacher. Renewal of teachers’ license according to the policy again shall also be based on similar INSET programs. So what at all made the ministry to suddenly call for an exam for practicing teachers without enough policy background?

Several INSET programs have been organized in the past. The Government of Japan implemented technical cooperation twice in the past, since 2000. These projects supported developing the INSET model in Mathematics and Science in public Primary schools. The Ghana Education Service (GES) has initiated the Nationwide INSET Program since 2009 to implement the INSET model. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has implemented “the Project for Strengthening the Capacity of INSET Management” for three years and nine months from June 2009 to March 2013, aimed at strengthening the structure and quality of the INSET management system in collaboration with the Teacher Education Division (TED) of the GES as a counterpart.

But in none of these applications was any licensing exams anticipated perhaps the progressive nature of teacher professional development was understood.

Again it appears that the 2013 PTPDM policy lack an implementation plan and this my opinion is vindicated  in the recommendations made in the Project Completion Report of the Project for Strengthening the Capacity of INSET Management in the Republic of Ghana by GES and JICA. This call for policy implementation receives a hearing.

Proposed PTPDM Policy Implementation Plan (2018 – 2023): according to the presentation made at a dissemination workshop in March 2, 2018, this is the new implementation plan for the PPTDM policy. This policy document is quite comprehensive enough to ensure an effective teacher career development. And I will suggest that every induction program foreseen in this policy shall be preceded by a well-organized exam for all teachers not the current spontaneous one by the ministry.

Assuming the licensing exams is a new policy at all I will have the questions below addressed by the ministry. Even though all the fundamentals outlined for the exams carries the spirit of the PPTDM policy the whole licensing examination itself still lacks a policy document.

First of all, what will the exams entail? And how do our teachers prepare for it, are there enough resources for preparation and implementation? If the policy wishes to reform the educational sector it should be developmental; encouraging teacher learning and self development, it should encourage self reckoning to get just the right people into the sector and also strategic. Strategic in the sense that it should not harnessed current potential to achieve future goals without serious damages. What does the exams prepare our teachers for?

Another area of weakness in the policy as far, as my knowledge of it is concern is that we don’t know the implications of passing or failing the exams. Who is qualified to sit fur the exams? And how do the licensing exams solve the teacher deficit problem in our education system.

According to the guidelines for the examination the only teachers qualified to take these exams should carry the below qualities.

– Gone through indexing successfully

– Pass DBE, BEd or a PGDE program.

– Provide evidence of obtaining such certificate(s)

–  apply on-line and complete the application form for licensure examination

– Pay a stipulated licensure examination fee

This is where the licensing examination program and PTPDM policy suffer a great weakness. I can’t estimate the number of unprofessional teachers (As in the PTPDM policy) we have in the Ghanaian educational system and if such a policy can exclude such an important section then where lies majority of poor Ghanaian students’ fate. So in the end the policy is just for those who are already professional teachers who are not enough to feed the system.

Moreover, how will the licensing exams be integrated into the licensing programs outlined in the PTPDM policy? otherwise the ministry could be running duplicate programs spending funds for all.

Last but not Least there is poor stakeholder engagement, and proper measures of execution and post exams measures. All stakeholders including teacher unions should be duly engaged to ensure proper sensitization, There should be a measurement assessment body instituted to ensure that exams are objective and that proper evaluation is well organized, until now Ghana still battles with basic certificate exams leakages and if that should repeat itself in a licensing exams it goes without saying that the purpose of the policy would have been defeated.

To conclude on this, what is the measure to ensure enough professional teacher deployment to meet demand? I don’t pretend to have all answers but first of all standardization must be achieved in teacher training  and proper screening for prospective candidates, teacher training colleges and university education faculties and departments should be harnessed to minimize the deficit, a proper migration policy for  non-professional into professional practitioners if they wish to stay in the profession and then campaign on the licensing on exams should begin with proper teachers preparation from both teachers and the bodies tasked with this sacred duty.