Teacher Professional Development Expert and Assessment Consultant Professor Jonathan Fletcher has said the over 6,000 trainee teachers who failed their licensure exams this year lack the commitment to teaching.
He opined that such individuals should not be allowed to be in classrooms to impart knowledge to students.
According to him, it is not enough to enter into the training institutions with just the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) results which, in his view, are generic.
He said there must be some basic entry processes, such as interviews or entrance exams, to ensure commitment because many people go to teacher training because it is a last resort.
“A lot of people who go through the teacher training programme see teaching as a last resort and as a stepping stone. So they don’t have the commitment to serve. I don’t think the commitment is there because if the commitment is there, I don’t think we will have the results we are getting,” he stressed.
In an interview, Prof. Fletcher said there are several challenges with teacher training methods in Ghana.
“In the first place, we have challenges when it comes to the training of teachers. Therefore, I wouldn’t say anybody who has come out of a teacher training programme is hundred per cent prepared for the work. People have to learn on the job, and the first thing is to make sure that people who are actually going to do the job have the commitment and secondly are prepared,” he said in an interview monitored by The Ghana Report on 3FM.
According to the consultant, the system makes it difficult to assess the many teachers, so there is a need to find a way to ensure that they are well prepared before they go out and teach; hence there is nothing wrong with the licensure exams because it will help all.
“I don’t have any challenge with licensure exams because it happens in law, medicine and nursing. It happens in many institutions and professions. I think that it is important for us to protect our children who will be taught by teachers,” he stated.
Over 6000 teachers out of 7,728 failed the licensure examination last month, the Registrar of the Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination (GTLE), Dr. Christian Addai-Poku, has revealed.
