NTC to train over 3,400 non-professional teachers in Greater Accra

Over 3,400 non-professional teachers within the Greater Accra Region have registered to be trained by the National Teaching Council (NTC) in some key teaching modules.  

These individuals are currently teaching in various basic schools and institutions but have not yet undergone professional training to become teachers.

The training will enable them to be awarded an authorisation certificate, which will allow them to continue teaching in their respective schools for three years, renewable each year.

Course

The course is held on weekends in four centres across the region namely, the Accra College of Education Demonstration School, Odorgonno Senior High School (SHS), Ashaiman SHS and Queensland International.

It is aimed at equipping the trainees with some relevant skills to enable them to practise effectively until they eventually become qualified trained teachers.

Some of the outline for the course include tutelage on child psychology, management in the classroom, assessment of learners, lesson note preparation, behavioural theorems in education and other key pedagogies.

Registration is ongoing and all teachers who fall within this category have been encouraged to participate by registering on the council’s website at a GH¢250.00 fee.

Building capacity

Speaking to the Daily Graphic last Saturday on the sidelines of an ongoing session at the Accra College of Education Demonstration School, a Deputy Registrar of the NTC, Lawrence Sarpong, explained that the individuals were potential professional tutors and so rather than stop them from teaching, “the council thought it fit to build their capacity and set them on the path to becoming professionals.”

He explained that it was part of the council’s efforts to streamline the system to increase access to quality education by having trained teachers teach in schools while also creating jobs.

After three years of the annual renewal of their licences, these trained non-professional teachers must pursue a professional education programme to become professional teachers and write the teacher licensure exam to be able to continue to teach.

“Within the three years of the authorisation, if they are not able to go through teacher training, then it means they intentionally don’t want to become teachers and when that happens, the law allows us to take them away from the classroom,” he said.

Mr Sarpong, who is the Deputy Registrar in Charge of Operations, also stressed that the exercise was necessary to tackle certain critical subject areas and places where professional teachers were not ready to go. 

Nationwide, caution 

The Director in charge of Licensing and Registration of Teachers at the NTC, Francis Addai, explained that the programme was a nationwide exercise.

“We are doing it across the country, and we hope to complete the region by the end of November,” he said.

Mr Addai cautioned proprietors against employing untrained teachers and encouraged them to register such non-professionals for the programme.

“If you’re a school head and you’re engaging any individual who isn’t a professional teacher or who hasn’t undergone this training to receive the authorisation to teach, you’re liable according to the law,” he stressed.

Mr Addai equally cautioned the trainees not to view the authorisation at the end of the training programme as a perpetual licence to teach and urged them to use it as a stepping stone to become qualified professional teachers.