Organised by Africa Education Gateway (AEG) in partnership with Pearson and the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS), the week-long event will be held from November 4 to November 11 in Accra.

It will be climaxed by the first-ever education festival in the country at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) which will showcase what the country has to offer in terms of education by allowing schools, institutions and educational businesses to exhibit their services and products.

The education festival which is open to teachers and students in both public and private schools, as well as all stakeholders in education, will also include events such as awards, edutainment, talk shows and presentations from top educationists and leadership coaches.

More than 2,000 education practitioners such as teachers, managers of schools, as well as students and other stakeholders are expected to participate in the event.

Rationale

At a media launch of GSTC last Saturday, an internationally renowned education consultant and Director of Programme at AEG, Grant Bulmuo, said the aim of the GSTC was to equip education practitioners with the right skills and mindset for positive transformation of the country’s education system to help propel sustainable development.

“The conference will educate, empower and equip education practitioners with the practical skills, ideas and creativity that will increase their effectiveness so that they can be innovative and challenge the 21st century leaner to be relevant in the changing scenes of our world,” he said.

Mr Bulmuo said the conference had been designed with various practical sessions which would expose teachers, school managers, students and policymakers to 
evidence-based and technological initiatives that had successfully transformed education on different levels in many countries.

Some of the sessions, he mentioned, included how to educate children with special needs, how to effectively use technology to deliver teaching, how to use education to manage children’s behaviours, the effective management of schools, innovative curriculums, among others.  

“The conference brings all stakeholders together with a common dream to use education to empower the children build their future today so when they leave school, they do not become a liability but resourceful and competitive globally,” he added.

Education inequality

Mr Bulmuo noted that one of the biggest factors inhibiting the development of education in the country and Africa in general was inequality of educational infrastructure and systems.

He said the inequality in education had led to a situation where certain parts of the country were well endowed with educational infrastructure and quality teachers, while others, especially those in rural areas, were in dire need of such support.

“Equity-led leadership and governance will facilitate effective planning, and offer broader participation of all in the education space to share and contribute towards underprivileged schools, classrooms and subjects,” he said.

Great initiative

The Regional Development Manager of Pearson Edexcel, Gabriel Sowah, said his outfit decided to be part of the GSTC due to the innovative way it helped teachers and other stakeholders in education to bring different and effective approaches to education to help the development of children.

“As an education company interested in the wellbeing of learners of all ages, we saw it as a prudent investment to partner with the conference to help bring new strategies to teaching to teachers in Ghana,” he said.

For her part, the Greater Accra Regional Chairman of GNAPS, Aisha Akrofi, urged all teachers, school managers and owners to partake in the GSTC not only to build their capacities, but to help them become agents of the change needed to drive the transformational agenda of education in the country.