IFEST proposes two education policy directions for Ghana in 2021

The Institute of Education Studies (IFEST), education think tank, has proposed two key policy directions for managers of education in Ghana in 2021 following disruptions that hit the sector by the coronavirus pandemic this year.

IFEST said in a statement copied to GhanaWeb that its analysis of the education sector in 2020 and the proposals for 2021 emanate from a targeted research dubbed “Education amid a pandemic” which was conducted earlier this year.

The two policy proposals from IFEST for 2021 are: 1. the need for ICT infrastructure development in deprived areas and 2. the need for capacity building for teachers in education technology (EdTech).

“Our research revealed that almost 95% of the students in areas in Ghana classified as rural or deprived did not benefit from the interventions rolled out by the Ministry of Education. This was attributed to several factors such as lack of ICT infrastructure in most of these communities, a higher level of the digital divide, poor parental supervision, and inability to access virtual learning due to the level of poverty in these areas which makes it difficult for families to own Television sets.

“To address these challenges and ensure that children in these communities also benefit from any kind of technological intervention in the not-too-distant future, we propose that, there should be a deliberate ICT Infrastructure development in these areas,” IFEST proposed.

On the issue of capacity building for teachers in education technology, the education think tank urged the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to design training programmes for teachers at the basic and secondary school level to enable them to update their knowledge on how to integrate educational technology in their teaching.

“We also wish to state that various digital devices used for teaching should be made available to all teachers during their training programmes. The National Teaching Council can decide to award specific points to in-service teachers as part of their portfolio building. We also call for an immediate review of all training programmes in ICT giving to student-teachers in our tertiary institutions. This is intended to ensure that such courses are up to date with current trends in EdTech,” it said.

Read the full release below.