CURRICULA OF COLLEGES MUST PRODUCE SKILFUL TEACHERS (PAGE 11)

THE Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Professor Akwasi Asabere-Ameyaw, has suggested that the curricula of the Colleges of Education in the country be structured to enable the institutions to produce skilful, well-informed and confident teachers.
He said such skills would better prepare the teachers to make teaching and learning in schools relevant to the needs of the society and the learners.
Prof. Asabere-Ameyaw also suggested that the organisational structure of the colleges be re-examined to reflect the change from teacher training colleges to colleges of education.
“There is the need for a total transformation from non-tertiary to tertiary institutions,” he said.
The Vice Chancellor, who made these suggestions when he addressed the maiden graduation ceremony of the Berekum College of Education (BETCO) in the Brong Ahafo Region on Saturday, also asked staff to be honest in computing students’ continuous assessment and conducting end-of- semester examinations.
In all, 256 graduates were awarded with diploma certificates.
He further pointed out that as a matter of urgency, principals of the various colleges should set up committees that comprised members of their staff to plan the upgrading of the colleges to befit their tertiary status.
Prof. Asabere-Ameyaw added, “Unnecessary rituals that are counter to the training of well-informed, self-motivated, independent and resourceful teachers should be done away with”.
The Vice Chancellor reiterated the view that teachers should be empowered to be able to help the nation to realise the purpose for which the government embarked on the current massive educational reform.
He said teachers’ empowerment involved giving them the right to participate in the determination of school goals and policies and exercise professional judgement on what and how to teach.
According to the Vice Chancellor, issues that readily come to mind on teacher empowerment include teacher participation in curricula development, assessment participation, providing the right training and retraining (in-service training), economic empowerment, and a conducive teaching environment, such as providing the right equipment, adequate facilities and right leadership.
He stressed that the staff of the various colleges should be well motivated, well trained and equipped with the needed materials to enable them to perform effectively.
He said the UEW had mounted programmes and courses for tutors in the colleges of education and emphasised that excellence in any learning enterprise, whether at the pre-school or university level, was directly linked to the professional preparedness, dedication and willingness of the teacher.
He pointed out that teachers were responsible for providing an enabling environment for students to learn by using the appropriate goals to enrich the national curricula.
Mr Yaw Adjei-Sarkodie, the Principal of BETCO, indicated that the college, which started in 1953 with an intake of 51 students and a seven-member teaching staff, now had 39,932 regular and 1,359 residential students undertaking sandwich programmes but there had not been a corresponding expansion in residential facilities for students and staff.
He added that in most cases two members of staff shared a two-bedroom bungalow with their families so the college was not able to attract its full complement of staff and retain teachers in subject areas where competition for staff was keen.