NAGRAT opposes teacher licensing exams

According to its Vice-President, Angel Kabonu, the move is an imposition on teachers who have gone through professional training.

The National Teachers Council (NTC) of the Ministry of Education announced that teachers will now have to pass a special examination before being granted the license to teach.

The move, according to the NTC, is to enforce discipline and eliminate non-performing teachers from the system, in accordance with the new Teachers Licensing Policy under the Education Act 778 (2008).

Executive Secretary-designate of the National Teaching Council of the Ministry of Education, Dr Augustine Tawiah disclosed this in Accra last week at the closing ceremony of a five-day intensive in-service training workshop for teachers in the Greater Accra Region.
But this move has created some kind of anxiety among teachers across the country, with majority claiming they have not heard about it.

Speaking Tuesday on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme, Angel Kabonu expressed disappointment in the National Teaching Council.

He predicted that the programme will fail if all key stakeholders are not engaged for consensus building.

The NAGRAT Vice-President said they will kick against it if all stakeholders are not brought on board.

Angel Kabonu said NAGRAT will hit the streets if their concerns are not addressed before it is implemented.

But the Public Relations Officer of GES, Rev Jonathan Bettey said though some teacher unions disagreed with the policy, they were able to reach a consensus.

He indicated that all formalities for the full implementation of the act had been finalised, and a secretariat to issue the license had been established.

The GES PRO disclosed that beginning next January, the ministry would undertake re-registration of all teachers in the country to facilitate the issuance of the licenses.

Rev Jonathan Bettey revealed that the policy will be implemented in September, to ensure quality teaching in the country.