EDUWATCH Against Licensure Exam Cancellation
The Africa Education Watch (EDUWATCH) has joined the many who are opposed to the idea of scrapping licensure examinations for teacher trainees.
Referencing some scripts from the examination which showed poor performances, the education think tank indicated that the cancellation of the exam would lower the bar in terms of quality in the educational sector.
In a Facebook post, the Executive Director of Eduwatch, Mr Kofi Asare said, “Cancelling the licensure exam and shipping all BED holders to school simply means these BED holders who failed the licensure exam (per scripts attached) would be teaching in school by now.
“And there are some like this who either failed or have been licensed. Are you happy for these to teach our kids? What quality assurance mechanisms are in place at the faculties, including at the point of admission?”
This adds up to the number of stakeholders against former President John Dramani Mahama’s idea of cancelling the licensure exams for teachers when he takes office again.
Earlier, the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) kicked against the idea but teacher trainees say they prefer a review of the exam.
During a campaign tour at Wenchi in the Bono Region , Mr Mahama said the exam was unnecessary.
“This is unnecessary. In our next administration, we will cancel the licensure exams.”
Elaborating on it, the Member of Parliament for Builsa South Constituency and deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee, Clement Apaak said the Teaching Act does not demand a licensure exam for a teacher to be licensed.
“The Alternative that John Mahama is talking about is that rather than saying that teacher trainees should take all these courses they do and write all the exams from year one to year four to obtain a degree and after that do one-year compulsory national service and after that write a licensure exam on the basis of which one can be granted a licence as a professional teacher, it will be replaced by a course that is tailored to cover all the parameters that we believe on ought to able to achieve to become a professional teacher and that course will be compulsory final year course which will be undertaken by final year students in the Colleges of Education just like some of their other courses,” he explained during an interview on Eyewitness News monitored by opemsuo.com on November 20.
According to him, persons who fail these courses will have to re-sit.
This model, he noted, will enable tutors to prepare them for professionalism.
The Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination (GTLE) organised and supervised by the National Teaching Council (NTC), was introduced by the government in 2019 under the Education Act of 2008, Act 778.
The examination is meant to license and certify all professional teachers in Ghana as a key policy aimed at improving the professional standing and status of teachers in the country.
The first teacher licensure examination took place in September 2018.
