The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has called for reforms to the current education curriculum being used in schools to reflect the changing needs of the present society.
It therefore urged other teacher unions as well as education stakeholders to use their influence to ensure that the desired changes were made to the curriculum for the good of all.
Speaking at the fifth quadrennial and 52nd delegates’ conference of the Cape Coast Metro branch of GNAT on Tuesday, Mr William Abedi Boadu, Central Regional Secretary of GNAT, said the reforms were necessary to develop critical thinkers for the nation.
The conference was on the theme “Transforming societies through education: the contribution of teachers towards agenda 2030”.
He said there was the need for the re-introduction and strengthening of the teaching of ‘Civics’ and critical thinking to produce responsible citizens who would be able to draw line between issues and challenges.
Speaking on the theme, Mr Boadu encouraged teachers to use the first year of the 15-year agenda to adequately transform themselves to be able to take centre stage in efforts at helping to transform societies to achieve the SDG goal of inclusive and equitable quality education for everybody.
The transformation, he said must give teachers the impetuous and the courage to point out to their colleagues what they did wrong and the wrongs in the society.
He tasked the teachers to exhibit high levels of professionalism because they were the key stakeholders in the transformation agenda, adding that it was an affront for them to chase money and throw away their professionalism and responsibility.
Mr Boadu said Government should equally be concern about child labour and trafficking and put in place measures to end it because it was also taking many school children from the classroom.
The Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Professor George K.T Oduro, challenged Ghanaian teachers to take centre stage in national discourse on education as they remained crucial in the country’s pursuit of the “Agenda 2030”.
According to him, it was not proper for teachers to allow politicians, journalists and other groups to lead the way in the discourse of educational matters and therefore must defend their professional identity by engaging more in national discourse on education.
He said the inability of teachers to take active participation in national discourse on education had led to situations where teachers were constantly blamed for the quality related woes facing the educational sector in the country.
Prof Oduro said transforming societies within the framework of the SDGs could not be accelerated unless Governments prioritise the provision and delivery of quality education in their development agenda.
<<Print>>