The recently released GTLE results for teachers seeking to be declared professional teachers have proven, once again, that, the calibre of educators trained in our various Colleges of Education is not the best.
Firstly, most of the students who end up in training colleges are not the best compared to their counterparts that gain admission into the top universities in Ghana.
SHS graduate teachers with good grades are far better than trained teachers failing GTLE
It is actually not strange that out of the 7,728 prospective teachers who sat for the licensure examination, only 1,277 passed. These are the calibre of teachers teaching our children in public schools.
SHS graduates without teacher training who teach in private schools would pass this exam easily. Private schools continue to employ SHS graduates with good grades and these pupil teachers are far better than these trained teachers who have failed their GTLE miserably.
It is a shame that teachers who have undergone training, three years of secondary education and JHS cannot write simple essays.
If we want the best from the Senior High Schools to consider teaching as a profession that will bring the best graduates from the SHS into the teaching field and the Colleges of Education, then, the government must consider increasing teachers’ minimum salary to Ghs6000/month for Fresh graduates from Colleges of Education.
Today, students aren’t choosing professions or career paths based on mere passion, but on the financial rewards and other incentives that come with the profession. Can you imagine the brilliant chaps that will opt for CoE if they are to earn Ghs6000/month as French graduates plus other allowances for their accommodation etc?
Such a salary will make entry into CoE more competitive and bring in the best who will be able to complete their programmes, write GTLE and pass. In the absence of such a motivating package, we will surely have all these poor grade-holding graduates for WASSCE flooding our CoE and producing such disheartening results.
Come to think of it, are they any approved textbooks for GTLE from the National Teaching Council? All serious professional bodies and professional examinations have approved textbooks or study kits that guide students in preparing to pass the various professional examinations. ICA GHANA, ACCA among others. How do you expect teachers to pass an exam that does not have any officially approved textbook.
No serious professional exam or examination body makes its candidates write an exam without reference materials.
The NTC itself needs to be overhauled. Changing the examination without putting in place the needed structures for preparation, books, or study materials shows the NTC is just trying something out.
There are several contributing factors that can help explain the abysmal performance of our teachers. Going forward, the NTC needs to cap the number of times a teacher can take the GTLE or the number of years within which one must pass the exam after his or her first attempt.
Again, it will be prudent that the GTLE is made part of the CoE study program so that students learn whichever text or materials the NTC provides them while they are in school. It will help ensure that, teachers have enough time to prepare for the GTLE.
READ: University of Ghana Grading System | How to Calculate Your FGPA
If trained teachers are failing GTLE, what did they learn as College of Education students?