Obuasi Diocesan Chapter of Association of Catholic Teachers inaugurated
The Obuasi Diocesan Chapter of the Association of Catholic Teachers (ACT) has been inaugurated at Obuasi in the Ashanti Region. The inauguration ceremony was attended by more than 200 Catholic teachers in the Obuasi Diocese of the Catholic Church.
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The ACT was formed with the aim of bringing Catholic teachers in basic and senior high schools together to seek the welfare of its members, help in the promotion of the Catholic faith, as well as the propagation of the Gospel wherever they find themselves.
Addressing the ceremony, the Kumasi Province Coordinator for the Association of Catholic Teachers, Mr Williams Boakye-Baafi, called for a review of teaching and learning methodologies in schools to meet the current information and communications technology (ICT)-based trend.
He explained that in the present technological world, there was the need for the nation’s educational curricula to be reviewed to be ICT compliant to ensure that both teachers and students take advantage of ICT to enhance teaching and learning.
Current trend of learning
Mr Boakye-Baafi stated that the days of “chew, pour, pass and forget” in schools were gone, since the current trend of learning required an activity-based methodology so that students could remember whatever they learnt.
He lamented the poor performance of senior high school students in the country in the areas of Science and Mathematics in this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
That, he said, posed a great threat to Science and Mathematics education in the country and appealed to teachers of those subjects to adopt modern information technology methods in their teaching methods to match the current state of affairs.
Mr Boakye-Baafi indicated that until the old methodologies of teaching were replaced with modern IT-based methods in the teaching of all subjects, especially in the areas of Science and Mathematics, the country would continue to record poor performance in those subjects, which would affect science and technology development in the country in the long run.
He said the time had come for visualisation and interaction to take centre stage in teaching and learning, especially in Science and Mathematics, so that many more students would be attracted to those subjects.
The Bishop of the Obuasi Diocese of the Catholic Church, Most Rev. Yaw Afoakwah, reminded teachers of the need to make themselves available for leadership positions in society.
He explained that as professionally trained people, accepting leadership positions in society would be of immense benefit to the country, since they would bring their expertise to bear on their functions.
Professional training
Most Rev. Afoakwah explained that with the professional training and other moral values imbibed in teachers, taking up leadership positions would ensure that they performed their duties with credibility.
He challenged the teachers to set good examples for other people to emulate, to have a positive impact on the lives of people and society in general.
A former Manager of Catholic Schools in Ghana, Sir Dave Anane-Druyeh, in a keynote address, urged Catholic teachers to see their schools as their mission field so they could influence the lives of people they meet positively with good moral values.
He challenged teachers to strive to inspire the children in all that they do so that it would make a positive impact in their lives. He also reminded them to desist from using abusive language on the children.