Twenty-six (26) Lecturers from seven Ghanaian Colleges of Education and Universities have been selected for the ‘Skills4Success’ project targeted at improving academic performance and greater employability of young people.
The ‘Skills4Success’ project developed and delivered by the British Council in partnership with the Government of Ghana, Wikimedia Foundation and Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, will be undertaken until March 2023.
The 26 lecturers have been selected from University of Cape Coast, University of Winneba, St. Louis, Jasikan, Holy Child, Bagabaga and Presbyterian Colleges of Education would benefit from the pilot programme to be extended to three other African countries namely Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
A recent study conducted by International Finance Corporation (IFC) found that over 230 million jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa would require at least basic digital skills by 2030 and nearly 65 per cent of current job employers require at least some basic digital skills.
According to Mr. Chikodi Onyemerela, Acting Country Director, British Council Ghana & Cameroon, these figures by IFC stressed the need to enroll the ‘Skills4Success’ programme aimed at providing teacher trainers and student teachers with the knowledge and skills to develop improved digital literacy and factual writing skills in the young learners they teach.
“The linear relationship between effective teaching/teacher competency and pupils’ learning outcome is well documented in various extant literatures and what we are setting out today is an enduring journey to support the numerous efforts by State and Non-State actors to improve the output and competitiveness of the Ghanaian students, using Colleges and Universities of Education as entry point,” he said.
He revealed that a recent consultative meeting with top officials at the Ministry of Education underlined the importance and focus on Science, Technology Engineering, and Mathematics education, digital literacy and the need to enhance English language amongst teachers, school leaders and students across the country.
Mr. Abdulai Jinapor, Deputy Director, Ghana Tertiary Commission, in his remarks, commended all partners for the project which according to him, will help improve the skills sets of students and acquire knowledge.
He noted that the training programme would enable teacher students and trainers to better understand how to use the internet as a learning and research resource, and actively engage in the online space in professional contexts.
He added that it would improve the quality of their written communication both academically and professionally and develop their confidence in their use of digital tools.