First teacher licensure exams in Sept

It is now official that the first-ever teacher licensure examination will take place in the colleges of education throughout the country from September 10 to 12, 2018.

The only colleges of education that will be exempted from serving as venues for the examination are the Christ the Teacher, Akim Oda Methodist, St Ambrose, McCoy, Cambridge, Jackson and Holy Spirit colleges of education.

The examination is open to all holders of Diploma in Basic Education (DBE), Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) and Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) who are desirous of seeking employment with the Ghana Education Service (GES).

The licensure exams

The examination will be focused on essential skills for teaching, numeracy (basic computation) and literacy (verbal aptitude and essay).

The candidates will be required to write a paper each day for the three days of the examination.

All prospective candidates are to apply online at www.exams.ntc.gov.gh and complete the application form for the examination.

The closing date for applications is September 4, 2018.

The targeted candidates are those who completed colleges of education this year or those who read Education in the various universities and colleges who are desirous of seeking employment with the GES.

Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Executive Secretary of the National Teaching Council (NTC), Dr (Mrs) Evelyn Owusu Oduro, explained that all newly trained diploma students from the various colleges of education who desired to teach would be required to write the examination in their respective colleges.

She, however, said those who completed the Cambridge, Jackson, Holy Spirit, Christ the Teacher, St Ambrose, Methodist, Oda and McCoy colleges of education and were desirous of seeking teaching jobs with the GES would have to choose the college of education closest to them to write the examination.

How to apply

“All prospective candidates are to apply by paying GH¢220 to any GCB Bank Ltd branch nationwide. They are to take their personal identification number (PIN) and serial number from the GCB Bank Ltd, visit the website of the NTC and follow the directives to register,” Dr (Mrs) Oduro explained.

She said the candidates would be required to keep their PIN and serial numbers after the registration for the licensure examination to access their results.

She hinted that the examination syllabus was crafted from the curriculum of the universities and the colleges of education and gave an assurance that there would be nothing in the examination beyond the scope of their training and so the candidates had nothing to fear.

She explained that those who were already teaching would not be required to write the examination but would undertake a number of in-service professional training programmes to upgrade themselves to enable them to get the licence.

Why the licensure exams

Dr Oduro explained that the rationale behind the licensure examination was not to prevent people from getting employment, as was being expressed by some students and friends of colleges of education.

“The examination is to ensure that we have quality teachers to teach our children and raise the standard of teaching in Ghana. It will also prepare Ghanaian teachers to be accepted globally,” she explained.

Sensitisation

While dismissing the argument that there had not been enough sensitisation, she explained that the NTC had, since 2016, embarked on a number of sensitisation exercises when she took over as the Executive Secretary.

“The NTC has engaged with the vice-chancellors and registrars of universities, the executives of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), the Conference of District Directors of Education, the Conference of Heads of Basic Schools (COHBS) and the Conference of Heads of Private Schools (CHOPS),” she said.

She indicated that her staff went to all colleges for sensitisation in 2017 and also from July 20 to 25, this year.

The council, according to Dr Oduro, had also embarked on a series of stakeholder engagements and consultation/sensitisation with executives of the Teacher Trainee Association, Ghana (TTAG) and the teacher unions.

Consultations

According to her, the council consulted sister agencies such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Ghana Medical and Dental Council, as well as the executives of the TTAG and the NTC Board, before the fees and charges for the examination were determined.

She made it explicit that the Education Act of 2008, Act 778, empowered the NTC to conduct the professional examination for individuals who wanted to take teaching as a profession.