_Government raises the standards of basic schools teachers_.

As part of broader educational reforms, government has rolled out an educational transformational mechanism by raising the entry requirements for basic schools teachers so that they are equivalent to those in other professions.

"From October this year, all new entrants to the teaching profession will require to study Bachelors of Education degree offered by Colleges of Education, initially in affiliation to *UCC* and with other public universities after one year of implementation"

"It is important to note that these changes in teacher education reforms are just one element in the government education reforms strategy. Alongside the new Bachelor's of Education degree, there will be a new Basic Education Curriculum in Ghana's Schools.
The curriculum offered in these Colleges of Education will represent a significant departure from previous practice."
 _Mr Robbin Todd, Team Leader of Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL) programme disclosed at the T TEL Challenge Fund End of Project Learning event at Koforidua, Eastern Regional Capital._

The five public universities to be affiliated to the programme are University of Ghana ( *LEG, Accra*), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology ( *KNUST, Kumasi*), University of Cape Coast *(UCC)*, University of Education ( *UEW, Winneba*),and University for Development Studies *(UDS, Tamale*).

He, Mr Todd, said the Universities have designed the new Bachelors of Education degree aligned with the National Teachers' Standards ( *NTS*) and the National Teacher Education Curriculum Framework ( *NTECF*) and have submitted these to the National Accreditation Board ( *NAB*) for certification.

He insinuated that aligning the new curriculum with Standards will ensure that we train the teachers which Ghana needs to deliver world class education system.
That notwithstanding, the curriculum will be very practically focused with thirty percent ( *30%*) of the total assessment marks being practical assessment of teaching ability and will focus on ensuring that teachers are confident in the use of learner centred approaches to encourage critical thinking and problem solving.

Also, teaching practice in schools will play a central part in the learning process with student teachers spending time in partner schools in years one, two, three and four, not just in year three as in the case with the current *DBE*.

"Once student teachers have completed their Four (4) Year Bachelor of Education degree in Basic Education, they will then spend one year teaching in basic schools, employed by Ghana Education Service before they will receive their licence to practice and achieve qualified teacher status"
This licence is important because it provides an independent validation that each teacher has the practical skills and capabilities to meet the National Teachers' Standards. An assessment across the three domains of effective teaching which are *Professional Values and Attitudes,* *Knowledge, and Practice,"* he stated.
Licensing will be practically focused. It will involve observation of the teacher in the classroom and an assessment of their *professional portfolio, lesson plans, and other necessary documents.*
Licensing is not something that should be feared by any aspiring young teacher. It should be embraced with confidence as it provides the validation that one has met the standards of a professional teacher.
He said T-TEL and the government have been working with National Council for Tertiary Education ( *NCTE*) to support all the forty-six (46) *COE* to transform teacher education and learning.

T-TEL shall provide support to all colleges to enable them upgrade the qualifications of their tutors to meet the minimum requirements of the NCTE, support shall continue to be given to colleges to achieve their organisational objectives and developmental plans through a Payment By Results ( *PBR* ) approach, providing funding for colleges to use as they see fit to improve their infrastructure and learning environment.

Strengthened partnership is being sought between Schools and Colleges guided by a new School Partnership Policy to ensure that experienced teachers are effectively monitoring student teachers in line with the *NTS*

T-TEL has also pledged to support the Colleges and Universities over the coming years to ensure the provision of continuous Professional development to lecturers of the new curriculum and deliver it effectively.

Meanwhile, he paid tribute to the magnanimous roles being played by *UCC* in building capacity and capability in *COE*.

 *Finally, if Ghana achieves these reforms, it will stand as a beacon of hope to all Africa that genuine change in teacher education is possible.*

Long live Teacher Trainees.

Long live people in the the Education Sector.

Long live Mother Ghana.

I'm proud to be a teacher trainee.

Aftermath of the earth tremor shows cracks on the ground

Some parts of Weija, Gbawe in the Ga South Municipality of the
Greater Accra Region on Sunday morning experienced a 'minor'
earth tremor which scared residents.
The tremor which occurred at about 7:50 a.m. shook buildings,
creating panic among the residents.
One resident, Kojo Addae told Graphic Online that he felt it and it
was so scary.
"I could feel the ground rumbling under my feet. Indeed it was
scary," he said.
Maame Serwaa, another resident said she heard an unusual sound
from afar and by the time realised her building was shaking.

"It was serious my brother," she added

The teacher allegedly shoot both legs of the victim (File Photo)

A 19-year-old student of the Salaga Senior High School identified
by police as Mohammed Abdul Rauf has been crippled after he
was shot multiple times by a teacher of the school for attending
entertainment sessions on campus while on suspension.
The incident occurred on Saturday, Dec. 1, at about 9.30pm, after
the victim and his colleagues, who had been suspended last month
for allegedly smoking marijuana, came to the school to attend a
party organized for students, Starr News gathered.
The victim and his friends left the campus briefly after their
presence triggered a mild confusion. The teacher, now identified as
Amadu Sulley and teaches Social Studies, was informed about the
commotion and the presence of the suspended students.
Sulley reached out for his gun and traced the suspended students
to an area called Ngua Mallam in the township, where a quarrel
broke out between them.

The teacher allegedly slapped one of the boys before shooting at
both legs of the victim.
The police confirming the incident, say they are investigating and
that a manhunt was already underway for the teacher who has
reportedly fled after the attack.
Northern Regional Police spokesman, DSP Mohammed Yussif
Tanko said, the victim had been treated at the Salaga Government
Hospital and was in stable condition.
But, Starr News has gathered that doctors at the facility were
unsuccessful in efforts to remove the pellets from his legs and
preparations were being made to transfer him to the Tamale
Teaching Hospital.

The baddest songstress in Ghana now is Wendy Shay, which is as
a result of releasing sex-positive songs, as well as exposing some
body part.
Her sex-positive songs include Uber Driver, Bedroom Commando
and and her latest banger Masakra.
Ghanaians can now conclude that any songstress that joins
RuffTown records will definitely produce sex-positive songs, and
expose body part as well.
CEO of RuffTown Records, Bullet has disclosed that the sex-
positive songs from his records will come to a stop by next year.
.
He emphasized that his signee Wendy Shay will be releasing
inspirational songs and any other aspect of music other than sex-
positive songs.
Wendy Shay has changed – Wasakra.
He made this known in an interview with Nana Kwesi Coomson,
the host of award winning entertainment show, OC Showbiz
Review On Skyy Power Fm 93.5 in Takoradi.
Officially Wendy Shay is the only artiste under the RuffTown
Records, it has two other musicians under the records but will be
announced officially, very soon.

Cassiel Ato Forson says Ghana will not get value for money if the
current agreement is approved

Parliament has pulled the breaks on Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s
drones from flying to distribute blood products in very remote
areas of the country where quality healthcare delivery is hard to
reach.
This follows the discovery of some legal and regulatory issues in
the contractual agreement between the Government of the
Republic of Ghana, represented by the Ministry of Health and Fly
Zipline Ghana Limited.
Figures quoted in the agreement as service fee are also in dispute
with the minority caucus calling for the immediate withdrawal of
the agreement to enable the parties to reconcile the amount.
First Deputy Speaker, Hon. Joseph Osei Owusu, who presided over
the consideration of the US$12,527,000.00 service agreement
between the Government of the Republic of Ghana, represented by
the Ministry of Health and Fly Zipline Ghana Limited for the
delivery of emergency health and blood products to public health
facilities in Ghana, after listening to concerns raised by the
Minority Caucus directed the agreement to be deferred for a review
to enable the parties address all the issues raised by some
Members.
The Chairman of the Health Committee, Hon. Dr. Kwabena Twum-
Nuama, had earlier told the House to adopt the Committee’s report
since the country stands to benefit a lot from the agreement.
“Mr. Speaker, a lot has already been said about how the country
stands to benefit from the Service Agreement with Fly Zipline, from
lives that will be saved to the creation of jobs and reduction of
wastage. It is however worth-emphasizing that we need to
leverage on technology to improve the outcomes of our health
service delivery system in order to help us achieve Universal
Health Coverage among the other benefits mentioned-afore. Using
drones to improve our health service delivery will be a great
achievement and the Committee is very much convinced that it will
be successful. If implemented countrywide, Ghana will become the
first country in West Africa, the second in Africa after Rwanda and
also the largest in the world, to use such a delivery system to
deliver blood and other needed supplies to remote areas”, he
noted.

Per the terms of the Service Agreement, according to the
Committee’s report, the Ministry of Health bears no risk for
installation, operation and maintenance. The Ministry pays only
when Zipline succeeds in setting up distribution centers and meets
the performance specifications agreed to, in the Service
Agreement.
The contract is expected to run for four years from the start of
service at first distribution center. Zipline is also charging US
$88,000.00 per distribution center per month when fully deployed.
However, the Ranking Member of the Finance of the Committee,
Cassiel Ato Forson, commenting on the deal said Ghana will not
get value for money if the agreement in its current form is
approved.

According to him, per his calculation having gone through the
entire agreement, the amount charged as service fee is less than
what will actually be paid to Zipline Ghana Limited.
To him, Ghana will be paying US$145,000 per month as service
fee, stressing that the amount was too much and will not inure to
the benefit of the country.

Furthermore, the State stands to pay a total of US$7million while
the operational expenses of the entire agreement will cost Zipline
Ghana Limited US$1million. He, therefore, called for the immediate
withdrawal of the agreement.

The Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu also commenting on the deal,
said Ghanaian women do not need drones to distribute them blood
products and other medical supplies. What they need is to be
supported to undertake laboratory tests and neonatal care, he
noted.

According to him, the amount being used to procure facility could
be used to build so many CHPS compounds, especially, in remote
areas where access to healthcare delivery is difficult to come by.

Background

The Vice-President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, said at the 2018
Annual Health Summit in Accra that Ghana would by September
2018 use drones to distribute blood and other essential medicines
to remote parts of the country as part of efforts to ensure quality
healthcare delivery.
He reiterated government’s commitment while addressing
participants at the UK-Ghana Investment Summit in Accra in
October when his first deadline had passed.