Teacher absenteeism reduced from 30 to 9 percent - Minister

The Education Minister, Matthew Opoku-Prempeh has said prudent measures implemented has reaped a massive outcome by reducing the rate of absenteeism among teachers from 30 to nine percent.

He said the strengthening of the National Inspectorate Board had led to a reduction in teacher absenteeism.

The Minister was speaking on the first day of a three-day Innovation Africa 2019 Summit for education, Information Communications Technology (ICT), higher education, research, and innovation organised by AfricaBrains and the Government of Ghana.

The summit brought together about 250 ministers and government officials, from across Africa to serve as a high-level ministerial forum, where industry partners.

Dr Opoku-Prempeh said the Teacher Taskforce was in the process of developing a Teacher Policy to guide recruitment, deployment, accountability, career path, rewards and remuneration, teacher standards and teacher training.

He said government has introduced the teacher licensure regime and the Continuous Professional Development to improve the professionalism of teachers and bring them in line with international best practices.

He said technology and innovation sit at the centre of Africa’s transformation agenda and that the participants have come to discuss taking this further.

Dr Opoku-Prempeh said: “We cannot, however, make any progress without an agenda that has skills development at its core and is financed by Africans.”

He said the African Union through the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and African Development Bank were operationalising the African Education Fund to facilitate the skills needed for our industrialisation.

He said there is the need for all to mobilise resources to support the African Education Fund, adding that the country has pledged Two million United States dollars to the Fund, and urged other countries to show commitment to the fund to help “own our industrial and economic transformation”.

Dr Opoku-Prempeh said the African Education Fund would provide support for investment in Technical and Vocational Education and Training; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and Higher Education Research and Innovation.

Mr Charles Clarke, a Consultant for the Cambridge University, in an interview the Ghana News Agency, said there is a need for African governments to adopt curriculum relevant to the future and set high aspirations to ensure that children could their best.

He said Africa should develop its own curriculum based on the African experience adding that “I think you have something unique to bring on-board but you should try and learn from other systems to avoid isolation”.

He said there is the need for schools to be led by effective headteachers, who would be committed to a wide-ranging approach and ensure that schools were filled with high-quality teachers with forward-looking and engaging wider to equip themselves.