TTAG has no ”Power” to Close down Colleges of Education – Accra College Principal

The Principal of Accra College of Education ,Dr. Samuel Awinkene Atintono has indicated that the closure of Colleges of Education does not lie within the remit of the Students’ leadership.

The Principal made this statement in the context of a recent strike action by the College of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG),in which the leadership of the Teacher Trainees supposedly issued a directive for students to vacate campus after the 21 days have expired.

The directive according to the principal, was unfortunate ,and called on the trainees’ leadership to always consider a consultation with t he Conference of Principals (PINCOF) to avoid such unforeseen circumstances in the future.

He made this revelation  at the 24th Annual General Assembly of the Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana,Eastern and Greater Accra Sector held at the Accra College of Education,  on Tuesday, April 23,2019.

Speaking on the theme,Rising to the New Standards in Teacher Education ,the Principal highlighted the scope of the reforms in the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in four pillars.

National Teachers’ Standards

Dr. Samuel Atintono explained that the National Teachers’ Standard (NTS) set out the minimum values ,skills, knowledge and attributes required of a good teacher.

He indicated that core areas of the NTS are Professional Values an Attitudes ,Professional Knowledge and Professional Practice.

He said that the NTS was developed by the National Teaching Council (NTC) through a wide consultation and was launched in Accra College of Education by the Executive Secretary of the NTC in February 2019.

National Teacher Education Curriculum Framework (NTECF)

Dr. Atintono explained that the NTECF provides the details necessary for the development of an ITE Curriculum .

According to him, the ITE Curriculum enables student teachers to meet the NTS.

He explained, that the ITE was developed through the leadership of the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) .

Conversion of all 46 Colleges of Education into University Colleges

According to him, the forty-six Public Colleges of Education got affiliated to five public universities offering education curricula.

The affiliation according to him was completed in March 2019 and a draft Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU) is been considered by the Colleges and their affiliated Universities.

The Introduction of a New Four –Year Bachelor of Education Curriculum

Concluding on his points, Dr. Samuel Atintono indicated that the introduction of the New 4-year Bachelor of Education Curriculum for initial teacher education in the 2018/19 academic year in the Colleges of Education was based on the NTECF and assessed through the NTS.

Source:EducationGhana.net