A deputy Minister of Education, in charge of Basic and Secondary Education, Dr Yaw Adutwum has said that John Mahama’s comments on scrapping the Teacher Licensure Examination are for political consideration.
His comment comes on the back of a statement by John Mahama, who is leading the NDC into the 2020 presidential election, that he will do away with the licensure exams if elected to power.
The former President, Mr. John Mahama, who was speaking in a Facebook live session last week, stressed that an improvement in the quality of teaching and examinations at the Colleges of Education was more important than the licensure examination.
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Speaking to media at Accra College of Education on Thursday 1st October 2020 during the 2020 Teachers’ License Examination the Deputy Minister said that scrapping the law will not add value to education in the country.
“Scrapping this exam is not going to add value to education in this country. So, if for political consideration you just want to tell people what they want to hear, and take away the temptation, as the bible even says it and therefore you may get one or two votes.”
He added that comments like Mr Mahama’s are the reason many people complain about politics in education.
The Deputy Minister said that he didn’t expect the former president to have all the details on education but he expected him to get advice from people in the field before making such comments, as his words show that he is not receiving accurate advice from the professionals.
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“If something is good, you can say it’s good. If it needs to be tweaked you can say it needs tweaking, but don’t talk about scrapping it when you know it’s good. And even if you don’t know, then you haven’t been advised well by your professionals in various fields,” he said.
Dr. Adutwum stated that he could understand why the teachers were happy about Mr Mahama’s comments on scrapping the licensure exams but he appealed to them that the exams were in their best interests and will help them. License Examination and the certificate is a global standard for teachers and other professionals.
He said that “the good news is that it is not just a one-off thing. If you don’t do well, you come back. A lot of people have gone through it. ”
He added Many professionals in Ghana write license examinations before qualified candidates are employed or allowed to practice why those examinations are not cancelled but want to cancel teachers’ license examination.
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If you are a teacher and move outside the country and you want to teach, the first question they will ask you if you are licensed. Without a license, not even a private school will employ you.
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