CHOPSS backs calls for private schools to employ licensed teachers

The Conference of Heads of Private Second Cycle Schools (CHOPSS) has welcomed the Ghana Education Service (GES) policy, making it compulsory for private schools in the country to employ the services of licensed teachers as done in the public schools.

Chairman of the GES Council, Mr Michael Nsowah in an interview with Graphic Online yesterday said because private schools in the country are governed by regulations from the GES, they are bound to employ the services of licensed teachers only.

“Private schools are set up based on the rules and regulations of the Ministry of Education. Now it is part of the ministry’s regulations that to teach in Ghana, you must have a license and they [private schools] cannot be left out once they are providing education to Ghanaian children,” he said.

In responding to the comments, the national secretary of Conference of Heads of Private Second Cycle Schools, Joseph Dzamesi believes the statement by the GES is the right way to go in ensuring professionalism in the educational sector.

“As private school we work under the ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service, so if the GES and the ministry believes that every Ghanaian teacher teaching in the secondary school must be licensed then definitely there is no way that we will be asking for an exemption from such a policy” he stated on Accra- based 3Fm.

He pointed out the difficulty in engaging very well experienced teachers, who for their longevity in the teaching space may not want to go through the licensure examination but whose services are much needed in the private schools.

Mr. Dzamesi said his outfit will have to dialogue with the ministry to avoid some possible challenges the policy might be faced with, although they are in firm support of the policy and when implemented will bring sanity to the educational space.

“Now of course, is something that we have to sit down with the ministry and the GES to talk about and negotiate because our situations are a little bit different. As much as we have young graduate teachers teaching in our schools who do not mind going into the licensure examination, we do hire retired teachers who have a lot of experience and therefore may not necessary need to undergo such an examination”, he said.