Tema West Municipal Assembly has selected 24 teachers from public Junior High Schools (JHS) and Senior High Schools (SHS) to be equipped with Public Relations tools to manage communication challenges within the educational sector.
At the maiden workshop at Tema, Mr Isaac MaCarthy-Mensah, Tema West Municipal Director of Education said the officers would be trained to understand and identify Public Relations Issues in the field and be proactive to solve minor problems impeding educational activities.
They would also be coached to be able to identify key stakeholders who will support educational needs in the Municipality.
Mr MaCarthy-Mensah said the value of education was priceless and that was why the Tema West Municipal Educational Directorate seeks to surmount all challenges hindering the progress of education.
He stated that education bridged the gap between the less and more affluent in society as such, the Directorate was determined to use all human resource power to solve educational issues.
Mr MaCarthy-Mensah added that the programme was one of the many initiatives being undertaking by the Tema West Municipal to improve the quality of education in the Municipality.
Madam Mavis Otuku, Public Relations Officer of Tema West Municipal described PR as a strategic communication process that builds a mutually beneficial relationship between organization and its publics.
She said the roles of the school-based PROs would be to create a favourable attitude among various organizations, interest groups and the public through communication and ensure the projection of the good image of the directorate.
Madam Otuku added that they would ensure appropriate information flow with the public’s especially the media as well as evaluate communication problems among others.
The Tema West Municipal PRO added that qualities that were considered for selecting the school-based PROs included good interpersonal skills, open-mindedness, proficiency in English and Local language among others.
She charged the school-based PROs to be proactive and widen their scope by bringing stakeholders that would help find solutions to the educational problems.