Neogenics Education organises training programme for teachers in Nandom

Neogenics Education, an Educational Consultancy and Advocacy group accredited by the National Teachers Council (NTC) has organized a training programme for teachers in Nandom in the Upper West Region.

The training programme was centred on four thematic areas namely, Teacher Licensing, Teacher Prize Award and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Framework and Points Building. It is also meant to equip teachers on how to score marks.

Mr. Nicholas Ziemah, an accredited NTC lead facilitator at the training programmed explained that “CPD are activities engaged by teachers to acquire or develop their competencies for effective planning, delivery and assessment of lessons with the aim of enhancing learner’s learning attainment.”

The Continuous Professional Development programme has forms and activities such as self-directed training which include reading a course text from journals, books, watching professional videos and listening to professional audios. Receiving training and education from experts, performing duty-related activities and engaging in group activities with professionals.

Mr. Nicholas mentioned that “Newly Qualified Teachers will have to score 25 marks. Teachers with the ranks of superintendent II and I have to score 60 and 65 marks respectively. Senior Superintendent II and I will have to score 70 and 75 marks whereas those with Principal Superintendent and Assistant Director II must score 80 and 85 points.”

Teachers are expected to build portfolios by showing evidence of how they demonstrate professionalism in the practice. They are also to show evidence either through hard copies such as pictures, write-ups or electronic versions such as videos.

The Facilitator added, “teachers benefit from portfolio building since it keeps a record of a teacher’s accomplishments. It also focuses attention on teaching and recognizes its importance. Portfolio building also stimulates discussion about teaching and pedagogy. It equally encourages the ‘scholarship of teaching’ as teachers begin to engage in classroom research.”

All in-Service teachers shall be served with a professional license without sitting for examination. The license will be renewed after the first three years upon issue and subsequently, every two years on condition that the teacher has “lived within the confines of the code of ethics and professional standards, meat the required CPD points at the current rank with the three-year TCPD cycle and passed the portfolio assessment.”

Speaking at the programme, the Nandom Municipal Director of Education, Madam Pascaline Nifaakang mentioned that the licensing of teachers has several advantages.

She explained, “at the end of this training programme, teachers will get an insight into teacher licensing. Teachers have been asking a lot of questions about NTC and the licensing and today, they have an opportunity to ask all the questions bothering them.”

The programme is meant to sensitize teachers on teacher licensing and how to upload documents onto the system before the actual day of card issuance.

It will also afford teachers to know the kinds of courses and training to have in order to have the required number of points to be uploaded for them to get their license renewed in every two years.

“Because of the number of teachers, we have in the municipal, we have divided them into two groups. The first group is made up of KG to class three teachers, some junior and senior school teachers. Tomorrow, we shall continue with the upper primary school teachers, and the rest of the junior high and senior high school teachers. Attendance is encouraging,” she stressed.

As indicated by the facilitator, the standard of education in Nandom has fallen and Neogenics Education is prepared to in collaboration with the Municipal Education Directorate design courses and workshops to help raise the standards of education in Nandom the Director concluded.