Restoration Of Teacher Trainees’ Allowance Beneficial—Principal

The acting Principal of the Offinso College of Education, Mr. Daniel Adjei-Mensah, has described the restoration of the teacher trainees' allowance by the Akufo-Addo-led NPP government as very helpful.

He said the prompt payment of the feeding allowance has contributed to development since the utility component of the allowances paid recently has eased college administrations off some financial insolvency.

The acting Principal said, unlike previously when there were no allowances, no first-year student now owes fees and that situations where internally generated funds are used to pre-finance cost of feeding students pending payment of fees by students later is no more; a situation, he says makes it possible for Colleges to smoothly embark on development projects.

In an interaction with the media, Mr. Adjei-Mensah said the Offinso College of Education has adopted a sustained approach geared toward a tremendous transformation that illuminates and heightens the status of the College as a tertiary institution.

The College which was established by the Methodist Church Ghana in 1955 for the award of a two-year Teachers' Certificate 'B' programme currently runs a three-year Diploma in Basic Education, a four-year Diploma in Basic Education- a distance programme for untrained teachers and a two-year Diploma in Basic Education for Certificate 'A' teachers through a distance learning module.

The vision for the establishment of the College is to create an excellent teaching and learning environment with opportunities for training quality basic school teachers who are imbued with the requisite knowledge, skills, attitudes and values to enhance quality education and proper training of human resources.

This vision is in pursuance of the mission to provide quality teachers who are trained to acquire excellent professional and relevant teacher training skills that would produce competent, dedicated, God-fearing and committed teachers whose performances, per the international standards, would be accepted by all.

He said the 350 level 100 students comprises 195 males and 155 females while at the level 200, a total of the 493 students is made up of 243 males and 150 females. At the final year, there are 204 males and 157 females,

making the total population of the college, 1,204 currently.

The process of transformation has been massive following the assumption of office by Mr. Daniel Adjei-Mensah, as the acting Principal since August last year.

The administration and the 7-member Development Committee have formulated a two-year development programme which is intended to culminate into a Strategic Plan with the prime focus to adopt the British programme, T-TEL which is sponsored by DFID.

Top on the priority list of Acting Principal Mr. Adjei-Mensah’s administration under the proposed strategic plan is to evolve 19 policies pending the approval of the College Council upon its establishment.

The policy would entail strategies on admission, assessment, gender inclusive financial management, research and development.

The new administration is working towards the establishment of an Endowment Fund to supplement the Internally Generated Fund (IGF).

Management, he said, would have to convince staff to donate to the fund as seed money.

Upon its establishment, contributions are envisaged to be sourced from students, chiefs, opinion leaders, religious leaders, old students, suppliers and financial institutions.

Mr. Adjei-Mensah’s administration intends to introduce Science and Mathematics programmes to the general programme. He added that preparations are at the advanced stage to introduce the Science and Maths programmes by going through the requisite procedures with the University of Cape Coast.

As a result, the relevant course contents are being considered for adoption. In anticipation of approval of the proposed programs, the Science laboratories are being resourced through development levy from the students’ fees.

To achieve a fifty-fifty gender parity in enrolment, the College has established a Gender Advocate Centre following the drafting of a policy on admission and gender.

The College envisions to develop the skills and competencies of staff through professional development sessions by inviting facilitators from the universities at the beginning of every semester, to organize workshops and seminars for the staff, thus improving upon their academic and professional competencies.

Management also intends to renovate existing toilet facilities and upgrade them into a modern water closet at the males hall with College IGF. The masonry work will be done by the College mason which shall be supervised by the Municipal Chief Engineer.

According to Mr. Adjei-Mensah, the College has the vision of improving the road network at the College and would use part of the College’s IGF and GETFund allocation for 2017/18 academic year to reshape some streets that link the lecture halls, library and the science laboratories.

The College has already embarked on the renovation of administration block and classroom blocks and paving of walkways. It has also provided nine well-furnished offices for departmental heads and a Mini-Conference room for departmental heads in the first phase of a two-storey block intended for ICT lab and Conference Hall.

The Conference Hall is meant to be rented out for social activities by members of the public as a means of generating income.

The College has provided 6 mechanized boreholes for the supply of potable water. Some dormitories have been reroofed and painted to stop leakages while razor wires have been provided to enhance the security of especially, the female students.

A modern bathhouse estimated at GH¢ 189,200 is currently under construction. An amount of GHC76,400 has already been injected into the project.

Mr. Augustine Adjei, Dean of Student Affairs sees the ongoing development as great and commended the Acting Principal for his efforts.

Mr. Owusu Afriyie, a Religious and Moral Education tutor and Head of Social Science department has attributed the quick transformation of the college to the open administration of Mr. Adjei-Mensah.

The acting Principal was grateful for the cooperation of heads of department, staff and the Development Committee and emphasized that his intention is to make the College a place of excellent learning and create more opportunities for others.