The Ministry of Education will launch its new Educational Leadership Development Program (ELDP) in January next year following Cabinet approval, Education Minister Dr Yaw Asei Adyutwum has announced.
A successful pilot will pave the way for the program to be rolled out across the country with the establishment of a new National Education Institute (NEI) to provide long-term and individualized leadership training for heads and staff of agencies under the ministry.
The new institute, when established, will, among other things, serve as a permanent institution dedicated to the training of educational leadership for the ministry and will offer long-term, individualized leadership programs with certification for current and future school leaders, managers and agency staff. ministry.
Speaking at the two-day NEI Consultative Summit in Accra last weekend, Dr. Adutwum said the country’s education system was facing a “learning challenge” that posed a risk to economic growth and the well-being of its citizens.
He pointed out that as a result of the “learning challenge”, many young people lack the skills they need to thrive, even though they represent the country’s future.
“Fifty-three percent of 10-year-olds in the country do not have basic literacy skills, and while a child in Ghana can expect to go to school for 12 years, he or she only leaves school after six years,” he explained.
Dr Adyutwum said the learning problems can mainly be attributed to poor leadership and management, ineffective supervision, lack of accountability and inadequate training of teachers.
He noted that many school leaders in the country had no professional training for their role as managers, beyond years of classroom teaching experience.
However, he said the ministry under his leadership is committed to strengthening school leadership to advance the reform and learning agenda, as well as strengthening the education system to equip students with 21st century skills.
“The strategic plan of the Ministry of Education for 2018-2030 defines ambitions for improving the quality of school leadership,” he said.
He explained that the ministry intends to reform the quality and pathways in school leadership from establishing pathways to become school principals based on years of service, to having pre-career teachers who demonstrate quality teaching and leadership talent, became directors earlier.
“These reforms aim to improve the quality of school management, teaching and learning; allow other curriculum, teaching, and assessment reforms to be more quickly integrated into the school system; and increase the effectiveness of the ELDP,” he stressed.
On his part, the Executive Director of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) Ghana, Dr. Charles Yeboah, explained that the proposed NEI will help retain quality head teachers in the school system for a longer period, stressing that “the trained head teachers will also be used as master trainers to support the professional development of other teachers in the direction of school leadership.
He said the new institute would target about 70,000 school heads and would be established in collaboration with reputable educational and training institutions of good repute.
