First degree is a minimum qualification for teaching at basic schools - Education Minister

Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Minister for Education, has reiterated that the minimum qualification for teaching at any of the Basic Schools in Ghana is now a First Degree.

He registered the concern of the Government of Ghana that the early years of a child’s education were extremely significant to their future development, and the Government was embarking on teacher training reforms.

“We have in our focus on teacher reforms taken the necessary steps to upgrade all our Colleges of Education to university colleges to award Bachelor of Education (B.Ed), degrees, following a review of the teacher education curriculum into standards based curriculum,” the Minister told Parliament, in Accra.

In a statement on “ Education and Teacher Reforms” presented to the House on Tuesday, the Minister said implementation of the new teacher education curriculum began in October 2018, with each College of Education affiliated to one of the public universities of Ghana.

Dr Opoku Prempeh said the Ministry of Education was working in collaboration and support of the Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL) to upgrade capacity and improve the quality of teacher education to position teachers to be able to respond to current and future challenges in education.

T-TEL is a Government of Ghana programme funded by DFID. T-TEL is a six-year programme, which aims at ensuring Ghana's teaching graduates are equipped to deliver high-quality, inspirational teaching and learning in schools.

The Minister announced the setting up, since 2018, the National Teaching Council, which is charged with the responsibility for setting professional standards, registering, and licensing teachers.

Dr Prempeh announced that the Government was introducing a Professional Teacher Allowance of GH¢1,200.00 per year for professional teachers and GH¢600.00 for non-professional teachers.

“This will enable teachers to invest in improving and upgrading their skills and keeping abreast with modern trends to assist improving learning outcomes,” the Minister said.