Ghanaian project wins UNESCO prize

An innovative teacher training programme in Ghana developed by the Sabre Education has been selected as one of the three winners of the UNESCO-Hamdan bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Prize for Outstanding Practice and Performance in Enhancing the Effectiveness of Teachers 2017-2018.

Dubbed the ‘Fast-track Transformational Teacher Training Programme’, the Sabre Education, a UK charity operating in the Central and Western regions, which started the project with initial funding from the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID), has also benefited from Red Nose Day fundraising.

Fast-track

The Fast-track Transformational Teacher Training programme is a highly innovative and impactful teacher training approach which is drawn directly from the government’s educational strategy.

It is a critical part of Ghana’s efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goal Four in respect of the provision of quality early years education, and is delivered in partnership with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the OLA and Holy Child Colleges of Education.

Prize at ministry

The Sabre Education presented the award to the Minister of Education, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who re-emphasised the government’s commitment to providing access to and delivering quality education through the allocation of needed resources, as well as improved infrastructure.

Dr Opoku Prempeh noted that the ministry was committed to improving the current educational structure up to secondary education by placing emphasis on Science, Mathematics, French and Ghanaian languages.

He commended the Sabre Education for their efforts and stressed the need for the training to be extended to other colleges of education across the country.

Uplifting standards

The Chief Operations Officer of Sabre Education, Mr Jon Beaulieu, commended the ministry for uplifting the standards of education in Ghana, especially the government’s strong commitment to enriching the kindergarten sector.

He explained that through the training, practising classroom teachers were supported to implement the government’s new child-centred, active and play-based kindergarten methodology, adding that teachers supported children to develop the five Cs (Confidence, Communication, Cooperation, Curiosity, Concentration) as the foundation of the 21st century skills, early grade literacy, numeracy and creativity in a child-friendly and non-threatening learning environment.

Mission

Mr Beaulieu stated that the mission of Sabre Education was to contribute to transforming the life chances of children in developing countries through the delivery of innovative approaches to enhancing the quality of early years’ education and building better schools.

He indicated that to date, the Fast-track Transformational Teacher Training Programme had trained 797 teachers, head teachers, student teachers, GES officers and college tutors, adding over 22,000 four and five-year-old children had received a quality start to their education by being taught in a more child-centred, engaging and active and play-based way.