130 master trainers schooled on new curriculum

A five-day residential training workshop for 130 Master Trainers from private schools on the New Curriculum (Kindergarten to Primary 6) has been held in Accra.

The master trainers, whose qualifications ranged from diplomas to master degrees and selected from private schools across the country,  would among other things, train other trainers and teachers within the private sector schools about  the new school curriculum.

Held at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) at Kwabenya, Accra, with support from the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), the five-day event was in line with the number of reforms that had been carried out by the government with the last limited review done in 2012.

The event was made possible through the collaboration of a number of private schools namely, Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS), Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS), Foundation for Education, Research and Development (FERD) and the West Africa Montessori Association (WAMA).

The participants, comprising 32 females and 98 males with 24 facilitators, were taken through key topics such as: National Pre-Tertiary Curriculum Framework (NPCF), values, skills, and competencies, Lessons Planning and Pedagogy and assessment.

Among the curriculum subjects areas tackled  were French, Science, Mathematics and computing, Ghanaian language, English, Religious and Moral Education (GERM) Creative Arts, History, Our world Our people and Physical Education (CHOP).

The National Executive Director of the GNACOPS, Mr Enoch K. Gyetuah, in his opening address, expressed gratitude to the Minister of Education, Dr Mathew Opoku  Prempeh and his deputy in charge of General Education and officials of the Ghana Education Service (GES), the executive Secretary and team of facilitators for their immerse roles in making the training programme a reality.

 “I commended the leadership of private school associations across the country for the cooperation and support to ensure the successful hosting of the  landmark masters trainers workshop  which would have a tremendous impact on the Ghanaian educational system when it takes off in September next month”, he said.

According to Mr Gyetuah, arrangements were being made for schools to get copies of the new curriculum and its accompanying teachers’ Lesson Plans (Lesson Notes) at all training centres for the smooth take off of the new academic year.

He said schools were expected to register all their substantive teachers from KG to Primary 6 to be trained at the centre in their areas of operation, saying an e-portal to capture registration details of schools could be accessed through a link www.privateschoolsgh.com.

By TIMES REPORTER