The Director General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Prof. Ahmed Abdulai, Jinapor, has described teachers as the lifeline of every nation and should not be underestimated.
He explained that “Teachers make nations, we must never look down upon ourselves, and neither should we be attracted to this profession because it is the last resort with nowhere else to go”.
Speaking at the 16th congregation of the Offinso College of Education over the weekend, Prof. Jinapor described teachers as the oxygen and breath of every country, saying that, lecturers, scientists, engineers, clergy, and even politicians were products of teachers.
The event saw 458 students of the 2022/2023 batch who are the second batch of the B. Ed. Programme graduating of which 49 of them had First Class (15 being females), 291 had Second Class Upper Division, 110 Second Class Lower Division and eight candidates managing a Third Class score with no Pass class.
The congregation which attracted people from all walks of life had a theme: “Equipping the Young Teacher for the 21st Century Classroom”.
Commendation
Prof. Jinapor used the occasion to praise the leadership of the college for accomplishing another impressive student’s performance and pledged GTEC’s commitment towards supporting teacher educational delivery in the country as well as other initiatives that promote educational leadership development in the country.
He stated that “for us at GTEC, we will continue to work towards the attainment of our vision of ensuring equitable access to relevant world-class tertiary education”.
Great strides
“Again, the introduction of the Special Accreditation Committee to augment the Traditional Accreditation setup has led to the accreditation of 982 programs for just this year, in addition to about 1200 programs for the last part of last year”. Prof. Jinapor said.
The DG was upbeat that the nation stood a better chance of equipping young teachers with the skills of the 21st-century classroom if only they were dedicated and committed to the teaching profession.
The Principal of Offinso College of Education (OCoE), Very Rev. Dr Joseph Nkyi Asamoah, announce that they have adequately equipped their 2nd batch of the 4-year B. Ed. graduating students with the necessary techniques and skills to empower them to go out there to improve learning outcomes and ensure that children are motivated to be life-long learners beyond their time in school.
He was full of praise to the Director General of GTEC, Prof. Ahmed Jinapor, for his kind consideration to the college for migration of some critical staff to augment the existing staff strength and also commending the Government for the provision of Staff Development Fund to support staff upgrading.
End strike action
The Very Rev. Dr Asamoah appealed to all stakeholders, particularly the Government, to do everything possible to ensure that the grievances of College of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) members were quickly resolved in order not to unduly distort the academic calendar they were trying to restore.
He also pleaded with the leadership of CETAG to take the necessary steps to suspend their impending strike so that the parties could go back to the negotiation table for an amicable solution.
The Principal of the College mentioned inadequate accommodation for both staff and students and, the delay in GETFund releasing funds towards the construction of a modern lecture hall and ICT complex which began in 2015 as some of the challenges confronting the college.
Again he appealed to the government through the Education Ministry to help them get a means of transportation (a Bus) for students, especially, during their Supported Teaching in Schools (STS) activities.
Background
The Offinso College of Education which was established in 1955 will mark its 70th anniversary in 2025.