Prof Kwasi Opoku Amankwa Forson – GES Boss
ALL TRAINED teachers nationwide are expected to start writing professional licensing examinations to be conducted by the Ghana Education Service (GES).
This was made known in a notice served by GES on trainee teachers, which indicated that the examinations were necessary to confer due recognition on teachers in the country.
Public Relations Officer of GES, Rev. Jonathan Betteh, said in an interview with the media on Tuesday that “Before we recognize you as a professional teacher, you will need to be licensed.”
The move, he explained, is part of the education sector’s professional development and that it applies to both trainee teachers graduating from public and private teacher training colleges.
He indicated emphatically that it’s also aimed at standardizing the quality of teaching in schools across the country, adding that preparations were far advanced for the examinations to take place in September and that whoever fails cannot hold himself as a professional teacher.
According to the PRO, “Teachers who fail the exams will not be allowed to teach at a certain level. To be seen as a professional, you will have to pass the licensing exams.”
But the announcement has received strong opposition from the teaching community, with the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) contending that the move would be unfair to students who are taught with different curricula.
Deputy General Secretary of GNAT, Gifty Apanbi, in reaction to the announcement, stated on ‘Morning Starr’ Tuesday, “It will be unfair to examine all with a particular curriculum. We are not against the licensing but things must be done right.”
BY Melvin Tarlue