Colleges of Education Law ready by December

The Colleges of Education Law would be ready by December 2011 to give legal backing to the upgrading of Teacher Training Colleges in the country into tertiary institutions.

Mrs Betty Mould Iddrisu, Minister of Education, gave the hint at the opening session of the 53rd National Conference of Principals of Training Colleges (PRINCOF) at Peki on Wednesday.

The theme for the six-day Conference is, “Improved Teacher Education; an Asset for National Development”.

“My Ministry is not just to effect cosmetic changes in the names of the Colleges but rather to overhaul their infrastructure, strengthen the administrative capacities of the Principals and also see to the upgrading of various categories of staff currently at post.

“The entire upgrading process has huge cost implications for the country and we cannot do everything at one go.

“We would therefore need to adopt attitudes of consultation rather than confrontation in trying to tackle the many challenges that are associated with the upgrading,” Mrs Mould Iddrisu implored.

She urged the Principals of the Colleges “to be transformational” in their “administrative management, as well as the teaching and learning process in the colleges.”

Mrs Mould Iddrisu also urged the Principals to inculcate in their students a sense of pride and professionalism which would ensure that the new breed of teachers  do not spend 40 per cent of their official teaching time in the classrooms and 60 per cent outside.

“It means government is paying teachers to spend 60 per cent of the time out of the classrooms. You must set the example and the way forward”, she exhorted.

The Education Minister said the administrative budget for the colleges this academic year stood at GH¢800,000.00 in addition to a service grant of GH¢1,000,000.00.

She said a total of GH¢173,295.00 also went into investment.

In addition, GH¢15,998,000 went into infrastructure development through the GETFund.

Staff development and research was also worth GH¢1,200,000 and GH¢3,000,000 went into the provision of library books, Mrs Mould Iddrisu said.

“Government has also increased the monthly stipend for trainee teachers from GH¢69.00 to GH¢249.00.”

“This translates to GH¢6,750,000 per month covering 27,000 students’, the Education Minister said.

Mr Alfred Abugri Ndego, President of PRINCOF, said many candidates with aggregates 8 to 11 were now entering the Training Colleges following the decision to upgrade the Training Colleges into tertiary institutions.

“This is a very healthy development for the future of education in Ghana”, he observed.

Mr Ndego urged government to increase the annual quota of students to the Colleges well above the current ceiling of 9,000 because “the Colleges have the space and the capability to admit more applicants to our regular programmes”.

He said this was necessary to combat the 60,000 teacher deficit in the country within a short time.

“We in the Colleges of Education wish to express our gratitude to government for all the development activities which have transformed our campuses in preparation for and in connection with our new status”, Mr Ndego said.

Source: GNA