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A group photograph of some members of the teacher unions with Dr Oduro (arrowed)
A group photograph of some members of the teacher unions with Dr Oduro (arrowed)

No position on teacher licensing — National Teaching Council

The Secretariat of the National Teaching Council (NTC) has stated that no position has been taken by the new council on the professional licensing of all teachers.

It said any opinion from an individual or group of persons on issues on licensing should be shelved until further notice.

It said the old council had involved all stakeholders, especially teacher unions, in arriving at any decision concerning teacher development.

In an interview in Accra last Friday, the acting Executive Secretary of the NTC, Dr Evelyn Owusu Oduro, expressed surprise that although various teacher unions continued to submit their concerns and suggestions on the Pre-Tertiary Teacher Professional Development and Management (PTPDM) policy, linked to teacher licensing, one of the unions decided to throw dust into the eyes of the public by stating that it was not involved in the stakeholder consultation.

The Education Act, 2008, Act 778, established the NTC to, among other objectives, register teachers after they have satisfied the appropriate conditions for initial licensing and issue the appropriate licence.

Functions of the NTC

Dr Oduro said the council was mandated to, among others, advise the Minister of Education on matters relating to the professional standing and status of teachers and also on teacher education, including “the provision of facilities for in-service training and the employment of teachers.”

She said in addition, it was to recommend to the minister professional standards required for the registration of teachers.

“The council is also to periodically review professional practice and ethical standards for teachers and teaching. It is also to register teachers after they have satisfied the appropriate conditions for initial licensing and issue the appropriate licence,” she explained.

NAGRAT

Dr Oduro said the position taken by the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) was unfortunate and creating the impression that the council was sidelining the association in the process.

She said the last meeting with NAGRAT, which was to address its concerns, took place on August 1, 2017, she said.

She explained that the board of the NTC was inaugurated on August 11, 2017 and was yet to meet and so “no decision has been taken on the date of implementing the policy on the licensing of teachers, how much it will involve and who pays what.”

The NAGRAT last Thursday advised the council to do more stakeholder consultation on the implementation of the policy and that anything short of that “will be met with bull-force resistance.”

At a press conference, the association said it was neither resisting licensing and registration of teachers nor questioning the mandate of the NTC to do its work but that it had issues to do with the procedures with the implementation of the policy.

But Dr Oduro said those procedures were boldly spelt out in the PTPDM policy framework of which all the unions had copies.  

She said none of the teacher associations had been left out on any step taken on the professional teacher development programme, which ultimately was linked up with the licensing of teachers.

Pilot project

She said what the council had been doing was implementing a pilot project in five districts — Shai Osudoku, Upper Manya, Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam, Savelugu-Nanton and Kassena-Nankana districts.

Dr Oduro said all the districts being piloted were ready and awaiting the board of the council to kick-start the process of awarding them licences.

She said even though those teachers were ready, the new board of the council would have to meet and take a decision on that.

Rationale

Throwing more light on the issue, the Chairman of the Ghana Education Service (GES) Board, Mr Michael Nsowah, said the rationale for the licensing was to make teachers sit up and be committed to the profession.

He was happy that NAGRAT said it was law-abiding, saying that if that was the case, then there was no cause for alarm because the teacher licensing and registration were all mandated by law.  

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