Mfantseman Teachers Trained In Teaching And Reading Skills

One hundred and eighty kindergarten and lower primary school teachers at Saltpond, Mankessim and Essuehyia, all in the Mfantseman District, have attended a three-day in-service training in teaching and reading skills. The in-service training was organized by the District Directorate of Education in collaboration with Quality Education, Learning for All (EQUALL), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Mr Andrew Ofosu-Denkyi of the NGO said the programme was to train teachers to be more effective at guiding pupils to develop language and literacy skills. He said they were introduced to how to use the first of the six modules produced by EQUALL to guide teachers in teaching language and literacy. Ms Vivian Etroo, District Director of Education, commended EQUALL for producing a language and literacy foundation and instructional strategy modules and also for providing funds to train teachers on the usage of the books. She said it had been identified that teachers did not teach reading the way they should, hence the instability of pupils to read fluently. Ms Etroo said it had also been established that the inability of pupils to read and understand simple instructions and questions was the bane of their poor performance in examinations. She said the District Education Directorate would welcome any organization, which would support it in upgrading teachers’ skills in reading. The District Director entreated the participants to go back to their schools as trainers and impart the knowledge and skills they had acquired to those who did not have the opportunity to attend.