The purpose of this note is to explain how Colleges of Education
(CoE) can achieve the objectives of the Transition Support Fund
and consider it as a means of evaluating their performance
against key performance indicators (KPI) and put in place
systems and processes to address under-performance. This will
mean that, as institutions, they are responsible for their own
continuous improvement.
OBJECTIVE
The Transition Support Fund (TSF) is a Ministry of Education led
funding mechanism to enable CoEs to access funds to be used
for professional development and upgrading of teaching and non-
teaching staff. The primary objective is to enable tutors to meet
the minimum required academic qualifications standards set out
by NCTE and NAB before 2022.
TARGET GROUP
Teaching and Non-Teaching Staff of all 46 public Colleges of
Education
THE PROCESS (Eligibility Criteria)
The TSF is available to CoEs who can provide evidence that they
are aligning the implementation of the new B.Ed. to the
Government Policy for Teacher Education Reform and that what
they are doing reflects the requirements of the National
Teachers’ Standards (NTS) and the National Teacher Education
Curriculum Framework (NTECF).
There are four elements which will be assessed under the
Transition Support Fund:
i. Are tutors teaching their student teachers effectively and
appropriately in line with the NTS and NTECF?
ii. Are student teachers being assessed effectively and
appropriately in line with the NTS and NTECF?
iii. Is Supported Teaching in Schools being carried out effectively
and appropriately in line with the NTS and NTECF?
iv. Are tutors actively engaging in their own professional
development by regularly attending weekly Professional
Development sessions linked to the NTS and NTECF?
Please note – Colleges must be deemed to have ‘passed’ all four
assessment areas to be eligible for the TSF.
MONITORING AND EVALUATION/
REPORTING
CoEs will receive B.Ed. implementation visits from a monitoring
team selected by NCTE and NAB. During the visit the TSF team
will complete a check list to support them in monitoring the
extent to which the CoE is addressing the requirements of the
NTS and NTECF. They will also provide recommendations to the
CoE about steps they can take to strengthen implementation
which help them to improve their scores in subsequent
assessment rounds.
The monitoring visits will; a. assess the consistency in the quality
of implementation, specifically - teaching of student teachers;
assessment of student teachers; preparation for, and student
experience of, STS b. identify areas of the curriculum where
support or CPD may be needed c. identify CoEs where
implementation is closely aligned to reform policy d. enable
sharing of good practice
The TSF team will submit a report and make a recommendation
for the award of funds based on the outcome of their visit.
CoEs will not be expected to produce any report.
FUND SIZE PER CoE
GHC 100,000 per College of Education based on performance.
FUND PERIOD
- The first assessment round will take place in July 2019. If a
College successfully meets all assessment areas they will be
awarded GHC 50,000. If a College fails to achieve all areas they
will receive nothing.
- The second assessment round will take place in November
2019. If a College successfully meets all assessment areas they
will be awarded an additional GHC 50,000. If a College fails to
achieve all areas they will receive nothing.
- There will be two further assessment rounds- one in March
2020 and a final one in July 2020 for those Colleges which have
failed one or more of their previous assessments.
- Each College will thus have the opportunity to secure GHC
100,000 over the course of the TSF. Once a College has ‘passed’
two assessment rounds they will not be visited again.
HOW WILL CoEs BENEFIT?
The priority and main purpose of the TSF is to ensure that those
teaching staff who do not meet the minimum criteria set by NAB
and NCTE (i.e. that they hold a Research Masters’ degree) are
able to fulfill these criteria by the end of the designated transition
period in 2022. This does not mean however that funds will
solely be restricted to this category of staff. Funds can be used
by CoEs as they see fit in order to prepare themselves to be
strong tertiary institutions capable of delivering effective high
quality B.Ed programmes.
• Funds will be released based on evidence and in line with
agreed contracts signed between CoEs, NCTE and T-TEL.
• The TSF is to be used for professional upgrading of teaching
and non-teaching staff and cannot be used for any other
purpose.
• Duration of courses can be longer than the funding period.
FUNDING MODALITY
• Funds will be paid directly to CoEs. CoEs will be expected to
develop their own transparent and evidence based process for
deciding which staff members benefit from this funding support.
In order to maximise the number of staff who can benefit from
the TSF, CoEs are encouraged to develop criteria regarding the
provision of co-financing support from staff in recognition of the
fact that professional upgrading benefits both individuals and
institutions.
• The MoE and NCTE will have full visibility of the funds released
to CoEs.
• CoEs will be expected to evidence how they will ensure
effective financial management.
• CoEs will also be expected to evidence how they will ensure
that funds are only spent on staff upgrading and the measures
they will take to ensure that staff funded through the Transition
Support Fund successfully complete their courses.
Credit: CHRISPINE OSEI KUFFOUR
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