“From October 2018, all new entrants to the teaching profession will be required to study Bachelors of Education degrees offered by CoE initially in affiliation with the University of Cape Coast.

“After one year transitional period, the programme will rope in other four public universities as the curriculum offered in the CoE will represent a significant departure from previous practice,” Mr Akwasi Addae-Boahene, Technical Advisor, Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL) stated at Koforidua, Eastern Region.

The other four are; University of Education Winneba; University of Ghana, Legon; Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi; and the University of Development Studies, Tamale.

Mr Addae-Boahene who was addressing a section of CoE Principals, Vice Principals, Tutors, Students (Mentees) and other Stakeholders including; traditional leaders at T-TEL Challenge Fund End of Project Learning Event, stressed that the overall aim was to make teaching a degree profession.

He said the universities had designed the new Bachelors of Education degrees aligned with the National Teacher’s Standards (NTS), National Teacher Education Curriculum Framework (NTECF) and submitted to the National Accreditation Board for certification.

“Aligning the new curriculum with these standards will ensure that we train the teachers which Ghana needs to deliver a world class education system,” Mr Addae-Boahene stated.

He explained that the new programme would ensure that application into teacher education would attract wider group of young men and women aspiring to undertake training and enter the profession with a Bachelor’s degree in education.

He said it would also improve the quality of teachers by ensuring that teacher-trainees underwent a rigorous and practically focused high-quality degree programme that would enable them to demonstrate the competencies set out in the National Teachers’ Standards.

The holistic programme would also alleviate the current disrupted workforce situation, where in-service teachers left the classroom during part of the week for lectures as part of the two-year studies to upgrade their diplomas to degree, leading to significant loss of instruction time, he said.

Mr Addae-Boahene explained that T-TEL as part of the multiple levels of support, launched the Challenge Fund to reward and promote innovative practice in teaching, learning and management practices of CoEs.

He said about GHC2.5 million was disbursed to 31 Colleges across the country to implement innovative projects that would improve the practical skills of teacher trainees.

The T-TEL Technical Advisor said as a result of the Challenge Fund, CoEs had gone through significant and positive changes as it had stimulated innovation in teacher development, tutor professional development, college management, as well as gender and inclusion and improved partnership with broad-based stakeholders.

“Most importantly the Challenge Fund has built the capacity and capability of CoEs in preparation for the roll-out of the new Bachelor of Education curriculum.

“And this is not the end, far from it, T-TEL will be there every step of the way, as a Government of Ghana programme to support Colleges and Universities over the coming years,” Mr Addae-Boahene stated.

Ms Clara Apuusi, a Tutor at Accra College of Education told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the T-TEL Challenge Fund has transformed her teaching methodology, “It has injected and uplifted my level of confidence especially in other topics.

“I am a very confident tutor, but T-TEL has moved it to another level, and I commend the team for the on-going transform across the CoEs”.

Ms Apuusi noted that Accra College of Education as part of the broader scheme of the Challenge Fund was ready to share its experiences with other colleges and also learn good practices from others.

She said Accra College of Education undertook a project that sought to introduce innovative strategies towards improving trainee teachers’ pedagogical competencies and practical classroom skills.

Ms Apuusi noted that at the end of the project, “We have developed a Teaching Practice Manual for Tutors and Trainees; developed a Multi-Media Teacher Learning Manuals (Video Lessons); and harmonised Tutors’ Teaching Practice Supervision Scores, “these we are ready to share with other CoEs”.