The Education Minister, Dr Yaw OseiAdutwum, has indicated that incentives should be given to encourage more women teachers to access digital development opportunities in the country.
This follows the stark discrepancy in female versus male participants, with female teachers making up 30 per cent and male teachers making up 70 per cent in a pilot study aimed at improving the country’s teaching and learning practices.
Dr Adutwum said this in a speech read on his behalf by the Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), GiftyTwumAmpofo, at the launch of the report in Accra last Thursday.
Dubbed “Improving Ghanaian Teaching Practices: An Innovative and Scalable Digital Solution by the Ministry Of Education and Instill Education,” the pilot study was spearheaded by the National Teaching Council (NTC).
It was aimed at revolutionising educational leadership, teaching, and learning in schools toward achievingthe Sustainable Development Goal four (SDG4).
The eight-week pilot which was launched in February this year, targeted at least 5,000 teachers across the country with a digital solution called “Upskill@Instill.”
Dr Adutwum said there was, therefore, the need for digital platforms to be gender friendly considering particularly the multitasking nature of women.
He stated that the government was collaborating with the NTC to ensure that the sky became the starting point for teachers despite the challenges they were faced with.
Dr Christian Addai-Poku, Registrar, NTC commended Instill Education, a Pan-African higher education institution and the MasterCard Foundation for supporting the study.
He noted that Instill and the NTC jointly identified 10 modules (seven for classroom teachers and three for head teachers).
Dr Addai-Poku said the teachers in the pilot worked in conjunction with 31 master trainers who managed WhatsApp groups and were supported by Instill to create virtual professional learning communities for the pilot participants.
The NTC Registrar also called on telecommunication companies to offer their platforms as parts of efforts in the provision of digital solutions to improve teaching practices.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Instill Education, AlimLadha, for his part pointed out that everything could be taken away from an individual except one’s knowledge.
He said it was for that reason the younger generation and students had to take their education and studies seriously.
Mr Ladha said we also needed to get to the heart of education “if we are to move forward as a continent.”
He said his organisation was in the country to associate itself with the entire educational system
Prof. Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) and the chairman for the event said there was the pressing need for the country to strategise to meet the needs of the evolving world in the educational sector.
“We need to change the way we do things and train our students. We need to develop the kind of strategies that will enable us prepare for the future,” he added.
BY ABIGAIL ARTHUR AND MARYAM OMARU