St. Monica’s College of Education launches Challenge Fund project
SAINT Monica’s College of Education, an all-female higher educational institution based at Asante Mampong in the Ashanti Region, has launched a project called Challenge Fund to help reduce the high referral rate recorded in Mathematics and Science among students
Advertisement
It is reckoned that out of a student population of 520 enrolled for the 2015/2016 academic year, 99.6 per cent of them were referred in Mathematics and 10.6 per cent in Science.
In the previous academic year, 2014/2015, there were 39.6 per cent referrals in Mathematics and 8.7 per cent in Science out of a total enrolment of 470.
The Challenge Fund initiative is being carried out by the Transforming Teacher Education and Learning project (T-TEL), which is a four-year activity. The project was started in 2014 by the Government of Ghana, in collaboration with the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom (UK) and managed by the Cambridge Education of UK.
At the launch, the Principal of the college, Mrs Christina Sobotie, explained that T-TEL was supporting 40 public colleges of education to produce high quality teacher graduates “ready to teach, inspire and educate the youth of Ghana to lead the country into progress and prosperity”.
She said T-TEL and the colleges were undertaking some projects together, including building capacities of leaders in the colleges, training of mentors, taking on college improvement plans and currently the Challenge Fund.
She said the Government of Ghana had recognised that the quality of teaching and learning in schools had not kept pace with current needs of the country because of lack of innovation in the teaching sector.
She said to address the imbalance, St Monica’s College of Education, having identified a gap in teaching and learning, was intervening with the T-TEL Challenge Fund and was, therefore, urging all colleges to patronise the project.
Lesson delivery
The Project Leader, Mr John Amankwa, said the project was seeking to assist teacher trainees and tutors to develop a positive attitude towards the study of Mathematics and Science as well as improve practical lesson delivery in both subjects.
He said it was found out that inadequate skills and knowledge in gender-friendly pedagogical approaches to teaching and unavailability of Maths and Science Resource Centres were major causes of the problem of lack of interest in Maths and Science.
He expressed optimism, however, that at the end of the project about 70 per cent of teacher trainees would have been equipped to deliver effectively and efficiently in the teaching of Maths and Science.
national development
The official launch of the project was performed by the Chairman of the Governing Council of St Monica’s College of Education, Most Rev. Prof. Daniel Yinkah Sarfo. He noted that Maths and Science played critical roles in many disciplines, including Engineering and the Sciences.
He said because the two subject areas were crucial for national development, it was pertinent to guard against poor performances in them.
Both the Mampong Municipal Director of Education, Madam Martha Owusu Agyemang, and the Gyaasehene of the Mampong Traditional Area, Nana Boakye Yiadom, commended the college for the initiative and pledged their support for the project.