Teacher licensure examinations affront to colleges of education — Mahama

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has reiterated its position to scrap the post-college teacher licensure examination when it takes the reins of government in 2025.

It described the examination as an affront to the Colleges of Education. "In this light, the NDC will initiate processes towards the cancellation of the post-college teacher licensure examination," the flag bearer of the NDC, John Dramani Mahama, stated.

He stated this in a lecture delivered on his behalf by hpolis running mate, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, at the Presidential Policy lecture organised by the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG) in Cape Coast on Tuesday.

The lecture is an initiative of the GRASAG national secretariat aimed at providing a platform for Ghana's presidential candidates in the 2024 general election to engage with the youth and facilitate meaningful discussions on key policy issues affecting young people.

Mr Mahama said the licensure examination did not serve as a determinant of professionalism, adding that the introduction of the six-hour "paper and pencil" licensure examinations was worrying, considering that it did not take a six-hour examination to determine the professionalism of the teachers. 

He queried the essence of employing quality teachers at the colleges of education to train teachers, teach them and graduate teachers after various examinations and then subject them to a licensure examination.

Graduate education 

Mr Mahama indicated that the party attached great importance to graduate education, considering its relevance to addressing the developmental agenda of the country and even the African continent.

He said while university education was critical in developing critical knowledge for solving problems, graduate education and research findings had a critical impact on research, policy and development.

He said it was to support research education that the last NDC government introduced the bill for the national research fund to help lecturers and researchers access funding for quality research initiatives.

Satellite campuses

He said the next NDC government would continue with its high education facility expansion agenda by ensuring satellite campuses of existing universities were established in the newly created regions based on proximity and programme relevance.

Mr Mahama urged GRASAG to promote student academic support services and establish its own research support funds to promote research and innovation among its members.

Retooling

The President of GRASAG, Emmanuel Owusu, said the more than 100,000 members of GRASAG across the country and in the diaspora would want to see a restructuring and retooling of the operational structure of the Ghana Scholarships Secretariat and GETFund to provide equitable scholarship and funding opportunities for all students.

He said GRASAG looked forward to a future where research was shaping the fortunes of state-owned enterprises, the judiciary, legislature and executive, adding that GRASAG was ready to work with the government to leverage the collective strengths to build a nation that was inclusive, progressive and resilient.

GRASAG later presented a document on a research on the 24 hour economy to Prof Opoku-Agyemang