Teacher licensure exam reforms won’t compromise quality – Haruna

The Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has visited the Accra Senior High School examination centre for the ongoing teacher licensure examination.

A total of 37,000 candidates are taking the licensure examination, out of which 5000 candidates are rewriting and 32,000 are first-time candidates.

Hon. Iddrisu encouraged the candidates to excel and assured first timers of an opportunity to rewrite if they fail. He reiterated his directive to the National Teaching Council to ensure an opportunity is given to the previous cohort of students who failed the examination to rewrite before the August 30 deadline, to enable the government to take pragmatic measures to integrate teacher licensure exams into the final exams of the next cohort who will be graduating from the teacher training programs.

“We are honouring the manifesto pledge, albeit we will accept inputs, but for us, all this should not compromise the quality of teachers that we have. We are committed to improving the quality of teachers”, Hon. Iddrisu stressed.

The minister underscored the need to strengthen the professional capacity of teachers through continuous assessment. He noted that teachers must undergo professional development to enable them to impact students.

“When teachers teach, learners learn”, the minister emphasized.

Meanwhile, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu has assured Ghanaians that the government’s decision to reform the teacher licensure examination will not compromise the quality of educators being produced across the country.

According to the Minister, the move to integrate the licensure exam into the final academic assessments of students in universities and colleges of education aligns with the government’s policy direction, one that still prioritises professional competence and teaching excellence.

“We are honouring a manifesto pledge, albeit we’ll accept inputs to improve it because for us that decision should not compromise the quality of teachers that we have, that Ghana must have,” Mr Iddrisu said.

He made the remarks on Friday, July 18, during a media engagement at the Accra High School where the current round of the Ghana Teacher Licensure Examination (GTLE) is ongoing.

The Tamale South legislator reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring that future cohorts of teacher trainees are properly assessed, adding that practical reforms do not mean a reduction in standards.

“So we are still committed to providing for quality teachers so that the product will be guided learners who are guided properly by their teachers,” he added.