Something is wrong with teaching profession in Ghana - Patrick Awuah

Founder of Ashesi University, Patrick Awuah, has asked major stakeholders in Ghana’s educational system to pay critical attention to the training and development of teachers in the country.

According to him, while recent backlashes have been targeted at students who rioted and destroyed school property for strict invigilation during their first written WASSCE paper, the role of teachers must not be overlooked.

He believes there is something wrong with the teaching profession in Ghana which in one way or the other contributed to some of the recent strings of examination malpractices.

“First of all, every year since I’ve been back in Ghana we’ve had this annual ritual of students trying to get exam questions leaked so that they can cheat on the exam and sometimes WAEC catches it and cancels a paper,” he told told Kwaku Sakyi-Addo on Asaase Radio on Sunday.

Mr Awuah believes the content of teacher trainee programs and people who train teachers must be the focus, if indeed the country wants to make substantive progress in restoring the glories of the educational system.

While recounting confessions by his students with regards to examination malpractices, he said, “I’ve had students in Ashesi who have told me that their teachers encouraged them to cheat in BECE and their teachers help them cheat in BECE…”

This, in his opinion, proves the significant issues with the teaching profession in the country.

He argued “So something is wrong in the teaching profession as well and we have to look at who’s training the teachers in this country. I mean if you take a look at the education programs in the teacher training colleges how much content is focused on ethics. We really need to pay attention to that…”