Coronavirus: Support teachers with necessary resources, finance – IFEST to govt

The Institute for Education Studies (IFEST) has admonished the government to complement the efforts of teachers by developing an innovative measure to ensure that students who are at home due to COVID-19 get educated.

Ghana in March this year closed all schools both public and private with the outbreak of Coronavirus in the country. Students from kindergarten to the tertiary level have been out of the classroom for several months.

In a statement copied to GhanaWeb, IFEST urged teachers to adopt new teaching and learning technologies this COVID period to educate their students who can't be physically present in the classroom.

“We admonish the government to support the teachers with the necessary resources in terms of finance and the provision of needed educational resources and digital devices during these times to enable them to leverage technology to improve learning outcomes,” parts of the statement read.

Read the full statement below:

As Ghana joins the rest of the world to mark World Teachers’ Day, today October 5, 2020, the Institute for Education Studies (IFEST), wishes to congratulate and commend all teachers for their hard work and sacrifices in helping to make a difference and inspiring future generations.

This year’s theme: “Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future” comes at a time the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has added significantly to the already existing problems being faced by the country’s educational system.

Despite the challenges teachers have encountered following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, IFEST wishes to thank them for continuing to hold the fort to ensure students get educated.

However, we urge the teachers to take up the challenge as an opportunity the crises have presented and come up with innovative ways such as new teaching and learning technologies to educate students without meeting them physically.

As the teachers come up with these innovative ideas, we admonish the government to support the teachers with the necessary resources in terms of finance and the provision of needed educational resources and digital devices during these times to enable them to leverage technology to improve learning outcomes. Once again, we at IFEST say a big congratulations to all teachers globally. Ayekoo.