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Assessing the Transformation from Teacher Training Colleges to Colleges of Education

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Opinion

The shift from Teacher Training Colleges to Colleges of Education has stirred both transformation and controversy in the realm of education. This evolution prompts discussions about the effectiveness of the changes and their influence on the quality of teacher training.

To comprehensively examine this transformation, it is essential to delve into the origins of Teacher Training Colleges and evaluate whether the transition to Colleges of Education has maintained the standards that traditionally defined these esteemed institutions.

Historical Context

Teacher Training Colleges in Ghana have historically played a pivotal role in shaping the character and competence of aspiring educators. The very name carried a weight of discipline, a trait deeply ingrained in the fabric of every trainee.

However, winds of change swept through these hallowed halls as the institutions transitioned from Teacher Training Colleges to Colleges of Education. While the autonomy granted to these institutions was viewed as progress, it also raised questions about whether the core values and standards of teacher training were being preserved.

Discussion on Shifts in Behaviour and Autonomy of Trainee

A contentious issue arises regarding the shift in the behaviour and autonomy of the trainees. The once stringent discipline seemed to diminish as students enjoyed newfound liberties.

The ability to freely leave campus, choose attire without restrictions, and attend classes at their discretion raises the question: Are these trainees still undergoing the rigorous training synonymous with Teacher Training Colleges?

The concern goes beyond a mere change in nomenclature; it delves into the essence of teacher preparation. Are these institutions now more aligned with traditional universities, where freedom often overshadows discipline? The worry is that the dilution of the training environment might lead to indiscipline, low performance, and complacency among future educators.

Rationale for Re-assessment

The call to reassess the training aspect of teachers in Colleges of Education is not just a nostalgic plea for the past but a practical acknowledgment of the challenges faced by the education sector.

The autonomy granted to these institutions, while promoting flexibility, should not come at the expense of the fundamental principles that define effective teacher training. Striking a balance between autonomy and maintaining the distinctiveness of teacher training is imperative.

The argument extends beyond semantics; it is about preserving a tradition that has significantly contributed to the educational landscape of Ghana.

Ensuring Quality Amidst Transformation

The transformation should not compromise the quality of educators produced but should represent a commitment to evolving with the times while upholding the values that have stood the test of time. The analogy of soldier training institutions turning into universities serves as a poignant reminder. Just as the military demands discipline, precision, and a strong sense of duty, so does the field of education. If the metamorphosis of Teacher Training Colleges dilutes these essential qualities, the consequences could extend far beyond the classroom.

Advocating for Re-evaluation

As we advocate for a re-evaluation of teacher training in Colleges of Education, it is essential to consider the rights of the students. Striking a balance between autonomy and discipline does not necessarily entail a draconian approach. Rather, it calls for a thoughtful examination of the training environment, ensuring that students emerge not only with academic prowess but also with the character befitting an educator.

Recommendations for a Balanced Approach:

  • It is imperative to safeguard the foundational principles of discipline that were integral to the historical success of Teacher Training Colleges. The autonomy granted to Colleges of Education should not compromise the rigorous disciplinary standards once synonymous with teacher training. Efforts should be directed towards maintaining a structured and disciplined environment conducive to effective teacher preparation.

 

  • While autonomy is essential for growth and adaptability, there should be a conscious effort to strike a balance. The distinctiveness of teacher training must be preserved amidst the evolution to Colleges of Education. The institutions should not become indistinguishable from traditional universities, ensuring that unique training methodologies and values are retained to produce educators with a strong sense of commitment and excellence.

 

  • A comprehensive re-evaluation of the training environment is warranted. This includes a thorough examination of the shift in student behaviour and autonomy. Measures should be implemented to address concerns about the dilution of discipline, allowing for a more focused and serious attitude towards academic and professional development. This reassessment should consider the impact on future educators and their preparedness for the challenges of the teaching profession.

 

  • While the transition to university status may bring benefits, it is crucial to maintain the unique identity of teacher training institutions. This identity should reflect in the training approach, values, and expectations placed on students. The journey from trainee to teacher should retain its transformative and disciplined nature, distinguishing it from the conventional university experience.

 

  • To address concerns and ensure the successful implementation of recommendations, stakeholders, including educators, students, and policymakers, should be actively engaged in decision-making processes. A collaborative approach will foster a sense of ownership and commitment to the shared goal of maintaining the quality and distinctiveness of teacher training in Ghana’s evolving educational landscape.

 

  • The learning terrain is dynamic, and continuous monitoring of the effectiveness of implemented changes is essential. Regular assessments should be conducted to gauge the impact on academic performance, discipline, and the overall preparedness of graduates. Flexibility in adapting strategies based on these assessments will be key to ensuring that teacher training remains responsive to the evolving needs of both educators and students.

 

  • Conclusion:

The evolution from Teacher Training Colleges to Colleges of Education has ushered in changes that warrant a critical review. The preservation of discipline, commitment to community, and a sense of duty were not merely relics of the past but the foundation upon which a robust education system was built.

While progress is inevitable, it should not come at the cost of compromising the very essence of teacher training. It is time to revisit the standards and ensure that the journey from trainee to teacher remains a transformative and disciplined process, echoing the proud legacy of Ghana’s Teacher Training Colleges.

By WISDOM KOUDJO KLU,

EDUCATIONIST/COLUMNIST

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Chronicle’s stance.

Tinubu’s non-interference in Supreme Court judgements saved Nigeria’s democracy –Marafa

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Former Zamfara State lawmaker, Senator Kabiru Marafa

Former Zamfara State lawmaker, Senator Kabiru Marafa, says President Bola Tinubu has saved Nigeria’s democracy by not interfering in the judgements of the Supreme Court on the 2023 governorship election.

Marafa, who represented Zamfara Central at the National Assembly from 2011 to 2019, said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

The former lawmaker, who was Zamfara Coordinator, Presidential Campaign Council for President Bola Tinubu for the 2023 general election, said that Tinubu and the justices of the apex court had lived up to the expectations of Nigerians.

“Posterity will judge them well for allowing the will of the Nigerian voters to prevail.

“It is a welcome development. Tinubu, by this singular action of non-interference in the Supreme Court judgement, has saved the country’s democracy and forestalled the repeat of the 1983 scenario.

“You will recall that it was after the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) grabbed states that were hitherto of the opposition that the Second Republic collapsed,” he said.

Marafa also applauded the justices of the Supreme Court, saying they had lived up to the expectations of the Nigerian masses, adding that they had made the country proud and had written their names in gold.

He said that the apex court ruling had reinforced his belief in the ability and capacity of the judiciary to right any wrong in political evolution.

He recalled a similar incident during the buildup to the 2019 general election, in which he was then the leading contender for the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara. Credit: dailypost.ng

Nigerian military best trained, exposed in Africa –AA chairman

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Nigerian military

The National Chairman of Action Alliance, AA, Dr. Adekunle Rufai Omo-Aje, says the Nigerian military is one of the best trained and exposed in the African subregion.

He said their exploits in and out of the shores of the country are amazing in terms of expertise and exploitation.

In a statement to commemorate the 2024 Nigerian Armed Forces Day in Kaduna on Tuesday, Omo-Aje said the armed forces’ sacrifices of the civil war of the past were too numerous, stressing that the gallant heroes paid the supreme price to keep everyone alive today together as a country.

“Their feat is also visible when you talk of the Internally orchestrated intrigues of terrorism and banditry, and everyone will agree that these men and women in the military deserve our accolades.

“I want to appreciate the doggedness and spirited boldness of our gallant military men,” he said.

He prayed that their service to the nation would surely not go unappreciated and appealed to the current administration to devise means for better appreciating the services of these gallant men and women who stay awake to keep the country safe and secured.

“I am happy that the President is already doing something in line with immortalizing the fallen heroes and also reaching out to their families. Initiatives like this will inspire more resolute zeal in these men to put in more in serving the nation as expected of them,” he observed.

The AA National Chairman opined that one of the highest guided responsibilities of any government around the world is the security of lives and property of its citizens, pointing out that Nigeria is not in isolation from the rest of the world with the same focus and aspiration.

Credit: dailypost.ng

Police Inspector detained over alleged misconduct in Ogun

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Police Inspector detained

The Ogun State Police Command has detained an inspector over alleged misconduct in the Ijebu Ode Local Government Area of the state.

Announcing the detention in a statement on Tuesday, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, said the inspector is being tried for an “alleged assault and extortion of a 24-year-old lady at a checkpoint in Ijagun junction, near Tai Solarin University of Education.”

Odutola said the police authorities swung into action following a viral video that captured the inspector assaulting the victim.

“The complaint reported by one Soyemi Abidemi Funmilola, 24 years old, on the 13th of January 2024, led to a thorough investigation conducted by the State Criminal Investigation Department,” she said.

“The investigation was able to confirm the officers’ misconduct including tracing the account number into which money extorted was deposited, the money has been recovered and marked as exhibits.

“The Inspector, rank, and file have been detained for orderly room trial, and the officer involved has been issued an official query, as directed by the Commissioner of Police, Alamutu Abiodun Mustapha with the Provost department overseeing the disciplinary proceedings.”

She reiterated the commitment of the State Police Command to its zero tolerance for misconduct by police personnel.

The police spokesperson maintained that the police commissioner has also stressed the importance of respecting the fundamental human rights of citizens at different lectures conducted for officers and men of the Command.

He also warned that the Command “will sanction any officer that infringes on the rights of the members of the public.”

“The family of the complainant has been contacted and is in communication with the Commissioner of police who has also assured that the officers will be held responsible for their failure to act under the rules and regulations of the force, noting that Ogun State Police Command is committed to ensuring the safety and security of residents and their properties,” the statement added.

Credit: channelstv.com

Amnesty International asks Tinubu to treat kidnappings in Nigeria as emergency

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Amnesty International (AI) Nigeria has asked President Bola Tinubu to treat the rampant kidnapping cases in Nigeria as emergency by taking measures to end the cycle of violence and fear the people are under.

AI stated this in a statement by its Nigerian Director, Isa Sanusi, on Monday.

The organisation said last week over 45 people travelling between Otukpo in Benue State and Enugu were kidnapped and nothing has been heard about them yet.

it also said a student, Nabeelah, was killed in captivity last week because her family could not urgently meet kidnappers demand for N60 million ransom even as her siblings are still in captivity of the kidnappers.

It further stated that one of the 10 people kidnapped at an estate in Dutse near Abuja was killed over failure of her family to pay ransom.

Mr Sanusi said the Nigerian authorities are yet to show any tangible commitment to addressing the escalating breakdown of security across the country, adding that “Whatever security measures being currently implemented are clearly not working, as people in Nigeria feel more unsafe.”

Credit: premiumtimesng.com

China vents fury at Philippines over Taiwan congratulations

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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning

China has summoned the Philippine ambassador after Manila congratulated the winner of Taiwan’s presidential election.

China lashed out on Tuesday, a day after Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos sent Taiwanese President-elect Lai Ching-te a note on his victory in the recent vote. The highly undiplomatic comments from Beijing, which warned Manila “not to play with fire,” will likely deepen the tension between the pair, which have been jousting over contesting territorial claims in the South China Sea.

In a social media post on Monday, Marcos told Lai, a staunch opponent of China and its claims to Taiwan, that he looks forward to cooperating.

“The Chinese side is strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposes” Marcos’s remarks, Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning said, urging Manila to give “a responsible explanation”.

The Philippines’ Foreign Ministry said that Marcos’s remarks were a way of recognising the Philippines and Taiwan’s “mutual interests”, including the 200,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) on the island.

Credit: aljazeera.com

Hamas video claims to show dead Israeli hostages

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Itai Svirsky is one of the hostages in a footage released by Hamas

Hamas has issued a new video purporting to show the bodies of two Israeli hostages, with the militants claiming that they died in air strikes on Gaza. It comes a day after Hamas released another video of the hostages when they were alive, but warning they could die if Israel continued its bombardment.

Israel denied they were killed by strikes. Its defence minister accused the militants of “psychological abuse”. He added that military pressure was essential to release more hostages.

The video released on Monday shows a woman named as Noa Argamani, speaking under duress and saying that two men with whom she had been held had been killed in captivity.

She says the men – one of whom was identified as Itay Svirsky, 38 – were killed by “our own IDF strikes”, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.

She added that they were buried under rubble after the strikes, but that Hamas fighters had “succeeded in saving my life”.

Credit: bbc.com

New Zealand MP resigns following shoplifting allegations

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New Zealand MP, Golriz Ghahraman

A New Zealand MP has resigned following multiple allegations of shoplifting, which police are investigating. Golriz Ghahraman, of the Green Party, is alleged to have stolen three times from two clothing stores – one in Auckland and the other in Wellington.

The former UN human rights lawyer made history in 2017 as the first refugee in the country’s government. She once held her party’s justice portfolio.

Work-related stress made her behave completely out of character, she said.

“I have let down a lot of people and I am very sorry,” she added.

Ms Ghahraman fled Iran as a child with her family, who were all granted political asylum in New Zealand.

Her resignation on Tuesday comes after CCTV footage emerged showing her allegedly taking a designer handbag from an Auckland boutique.

The 42-year-old, who has not been charged with any crime, said in a statement her actions had “fallen short” of the high standards of behaviour the public expected from elected representatives.

Credit: bbc.com

US condemns Iran for ‘reckless’ missile strikes on Iraq

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Iraq's Kurdistan Region said four people were killed in the strikes

The US has condemned Iran over ballistic missile attacks near Iraq’s northern city of Irbil, calling them “a reckless and imprecise set of strikes”.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they struck what they claimed were Israeli “spy headquarters” in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region.

Four people were killed and six wounded in Monday’s attack, according to the Kurdistan Region Security Council.

Iraq denounced the attacks, calling them a violation of its sovereignty.

Israel’s government has not commented on the Iranian claims.

In a separate development, Kurdistan authorities said on Tuesday morning they had shot down three armed drones flying over Irbil airport, where US and international forces are stationed, Reuters reported. Authorities did not provide information on damage or casualties.

The Iranian strikes come amid rising tensions in the region since the war between Israel the Iran-backed Palestinian group Hamas broke out in the Gaza Strip on 7 October.

The conflict has increasingly started to spill over to involve militias allied to Iran operating in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Credit: bbc.com

North Korea declares South Korea ‘principal enemy’

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Monday vowed to remove a massive monument to the possible reunification of the Korean Peninsula that his father constructed in Pyongyang, calling it an “eyesore.”

Kim’s call during a speech at a Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA) meeting in Pyongyang was the latest in a string of recent bellicose statements from the North Korean leader, including a New Year’s declaration that the North was ending a policy of seeking reconciliation with South Korea.

North Korea has also been active militarily in recent weeks, firing hundreds of artillery rounds into waters near a disputed border between North and South and testing what it said was a ballistic missile topped with a hypersonic glide vehicle.

Besides calling for the destruction of the reunification monument, Kim on Monday also said Pyongyang was abolishing all agencies for promoting cooperation with Seoul. At the same time, he called the South the North’s “primary foe and invariable principal enemy.”

The North and South remain technically at war, but both sides have long declared an ultimate goal of one day peacefully reunifying the peninsula and viewed each other as members of the same family.

Credit: cnn.com

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