Most MMDAs do not show keen interest in In-service training - Research

A research conducted by Northern Network for Education Development (NNED) has shown that most Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the three Northern Regions do not show much interest in supporting the in-service training of teachers, particularly unprofessional teachers in the area.

The findings which were disseminated at a forum in Bolgatanga on Thursday, attracted stakeholders including School Management Committees (SMCs) , Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs), the Ghana Education (GES,), curriculum leaders and Sub-Committee Chairpersons among other stakeholders.

According to the research, all MMDAs had some level of awareness of the National In-service training model for teachers, yet they were not implementing it according to its design.

The Nadowli District and the Wa Municipality were the most affected in terms of conduct of in service training for teachers.

The research also indicated that community awareness on the need to get involve in school management, particularly the Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and School Management Committees (SMCs) was very high and their monitoring roles had also increased and hence should be encouraged to continue with the good work.

It recommended that those MMDAs that were not releasing funds for the In service training of teachers should make conscious efforts in doing that and to also inculcate it into their Medium Term Development Plan.

“The relevance of teaching methodology must be advocated for as one of the key drivers of quality teaching and learning outcomes in schools”, it suggested. It indicated that the inclusion of Non-Governmental Organizations and Civil Society Organizations contribution towards the funding of In service training of teachers by the Ghana Education Service was very remarkable and should be encouraged and intensified .

“NNED and its consortium of partners ought to collaborate with GES to publicize the National In-service Training model among all education actors within their reach and to ensure that all education actors who intend to support teachers' professional development align with the GES National In-service training model “.

Mr Frederick Ademazoya , Project Facilitator of NNED said his outfit would be organizing another forum to engage the Parliamentary select committee on Education , team up with education networks and the Media Foundation for West Africa and to lobby with GES and the MMDAs to incorporate In-service Training in its Medium Term Development Plan and to dialogue to institutionalize it .

He said the implementation of the ITCD project supported by the Strengthening Transparency , Accountability and Responsiveness in Ghana (STAR-Ghana) is to consolidate the phase of NNEDs Capacity development of related issues of teachers in Northern Ghana which include the “ Impact of Community Education Teaching Assistants (CETAs) aimed at addressing the shortage of trained teachers in the area.

He indicated that if the project is well implemented it would help address the falling standards of education in the three northern regions which is partly due to teacher absenteeism, scarcity of professional teaching staff in schools and teacher capacity development challenges.

“The platform for the validation and consensus building is part of NNED’S stakeholders participation approach to engage actors in education to address the educational challenges in the area", he stated.