Teachers attend professional development workshop
The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), in collaboration with the Canadian Teachers Federation (CTF), has organised a professional development workshop designed to upgrade the capacity of teachers at basic and second cycle institutions in the Ashanti Region.
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Two hundred and seventy teachers from both basic and second cycle schools in the region, made up of 160 males and 110 females, participated in the workshop.
Since the beginning of the year, 1,200 teachers from basic and second cycle institutions from the Ashanti, Volta and Eastern regions have benefited from the GNAT–CTF collaboration intended to enhance meaningful academic work and improve the standard of education in Ghana.
Last year, 600 teachers from the Upper East, Upper West, Northern and Brong Ahafo regions were the beneficiaries of the GNAT-CTF collaboration which started in the country five decades ago.
Among the subjects tackled by the participants during the five-day workshop were English, Mathematics and Science for basic and senior high school teachers; special skills training programme in Mathematics and Science for female teachers and Basic Design and Technology (BDT), French, Education Administration for basic school heads and heads of second cycle institutions.
The participants also treated critical issues in sanitation, malaria and the HIV and AIDS.
Newly trained teachers who participated in the professional programme were offered special training techniques to enhance their smooth integration into the teaching profession, while those in deprived schools were provided with the requisite skills intended to enhance their output in such communities.
Addressing the participants during the closing ceremony, the Deputy General Secretary of GNAT, Mr Thomas Baafi, urged the government to provide the needed educational inputs at all levels to promote quality teaching and learning and help achieve the desired outcomes of education in the country.
He said GNAT would continue to promote the interest of teachers with the view to motivating them to provide the best for their students.
Expressing the hope that the participants would take advantage of the newly acquired skills to deliver in their respective subject areas, Mr Baafi noted: “I sincerely believe that we have succeeded, to a very large degree, in empowering you to develop innovations in your teaching.”
While urging them to be more effective in practical applications of innovate teaching methods in the classrooms, Mr Baafi said it was equally important for the participants to regularly update their knowledge in their subject areas and also develop interest in research to make them more competent in their delivery.
Mr Baafi said GNAT had over the years pursued its primary objectives of promoting the interest of members and improving their professional competence to enable them to deliver at all levels and lauded GNAT and CTF for their continuous support for teachers in the country.
He, charged the participants to “put what you have acquired here into practice and try to find an opportunity to share what you have with other teachers on your staff who were not privileged enough to be part if the programme.”
By George Ernest Asare/Daily Graphic/Ghana