Develop social skills to acquire impactful career – Prof Edu-Buandoh charges female teacher trainees

The Dora Edu-Buandoh (DEB) Foundation has held a seminar for more than 300 prospective female professional teachers of the Komenda College of Education with an admonition to build their social skills to make their careers successful and impactful.

The seminar which coincided with International Women’s Day on Wednesday, aimed at building the capacity of the young trainees to enable them to develop themselves and build resilience for the future.

The DEB Foundation 2023 Young People’s Seminar was held on the theme: “Build Your Today for Your Future”.

The participants received encouragement, life tips, coaching, cautions, and advice from various distinguished female speakers.

Prof Dora Francisca Edu-Buandoh, the Executive Director of the Foundation, indicated that it was not enough for the students to only acquire professional knowledge and experience, but also needed a holistic personal development to make an impact in life.

She observed that society was changing and, therefore, it was crucial for the young women to acquire the relevant set of life skills to be able to live meaningful lives as adults and professionals.

Social skills such as tolerance for all manner of persons, volunteerism, giving back to society, and proper self-maintenance she said were germane to living meaningfully and building progressive societies.

“These are not taught in the classroom; you need to build them outside of the classroom.

“You need to build your social skills and learn to volunteer because as teachers, you will do more than teaching. Sometimes, you will have to do other things without pay,” she told the students of her alma mater.

Prof Edu-Buandoh who is a former Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), explained that the training was also to prepare the young ladies to occupy leadership positions in their line of work.

“We also want them to build their confidence because if they get the opportunity without confidence and set skills, they will not be able to perform and then people will attribute that to them being women,” she said.

Prof Edu-Buandoh urged all institutions and organisations to give equal opportunity to women to enable them to succeed and give back to society.

Dr Regina Obilie Amoako-Sakyi of the Department of Geography and Regional Planning, UCC, who preached volunteerism urged the young ladies to identify a worthy cause and support same.

She intimated that society had invested a lot in them and so, it was important for them to give back through all practicable means.

Beyond that, she said volunteerism was a way to develop new skills and experiences which could be valuable in their development.

She observed that opportunities for volunteerism existed in every community and that the youth could serve the aged, mentor children, help the homeless, join communal labour, support the sick, build a home, or provide disaster relief.

“We work for money, which is important, but there are times when you can work for free because you want to give back to society.

“As young teachers, you can dedicate maybe an hour each week to help children from deprived communities in their academic work,” Dr Amoako-Sakyi encouraged.