The National Teaching Council (NTC) says Ghana will be able to fully export professional teachers to countries where their services are needed after the teacher licensure exam certificate takes full shape.
In November last year, the Ministry of Education, disclosed that Ghana had begun processes to export trained teachers to African countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Updating the public on this development, Executive Director of the National Teaching Council, Christian Addae-Poku, said teachers from Ghana will not be rejected outside if the program takes off.
“In the next two years we are going to license every teacher in this country. It is very important that we meet international standards. What we are doing now is being done across Africa because it is also an AU policy to make sure that teaching is professionalized. This will ensure that teachers can leave Ghana to any African countries that need more teachers. Ghana can leverage on this training and train more teachers so that countries that need more training, we can export some of them to help. This is because our teachers will meet the standards,” he noted.
Government has indicated that the country will soon begin exporting teachers to neighbouring countries.
According to the government, this is part of its agenda to create employment for many of the country’s youth with the requisite qualification for teaching.
Education Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, explained that Ghana stands to benefit from Francophone countries who are willing to exchange French tutors for English teachers should the proposal work out.
“Training for export is high on the agenda. I had a meeting with the World Bank more than two weeks ago where they would want Ghana to open up and bring in fellow African countries who are in more dire situation than ourselves like Liberia and Sierra Leone, to train their teachers and export teacher to them in the interim,” he said.
In 2007 when the suggestion was made, the National President of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Mr. Kwaku Adjei, said it was laudable, and urged the government then to take advantage of the situation and benefit from its skilled professionals.
The Teachers Licensing examination conducted by the National Teaching Council applies to all teachers who hold the Diploma in Basic Education (DBE), Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) or a post-graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) who want to be employed by the Ghana education service.
According to the National Teaching Council, the purpose of the licensure examination is to enable qualified teachers to acquire a professional license to ply their trade.
