The Assemblies of God Education Unit (AGEU)has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Instill Education, a pan-African educational technology higher education institution, to train the church’s 7,000 teachers across the country.
The MoU which was signed in Accra last Friday is aimed at equipping the teachers with 21stcentury skills toward improved learning outcomes for holistic human development.
Rev Daniel Ayembilla, General Manager, AGEU, noted that the church was poised to develop both the spiritual and physical lives of Ghanaians, adding, that was “a conviction that continues to guide efforts by the church to ensure quality teaching and learning in every classroom.”
As such, he said the time had come for the education unit to build the capacity of teachers within its supervision, especially through the medium of technology, to align with international best practices towards improved learner outcomes for socio-economic transformation.
Rev Ayembilla reiterated that the MoU would be of immense benefit to the church’s 350 schoolsand 7,000 teachers across the country and commended Instill Education for the initiative.
The Regional Lead for Instill Education in West Africa, Ms Sarah Osei stressed that improving teachers’ capacity and professionalism was crucial as the teacher remained the pivot on which education thrived.
It was for that reason, she noted that Instill Education and the MasterCard Foundation were currently supporting teachers in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa to develop skills that addressed the needs and challenges of the 21st Century.
“We seek to re-imagine teaching and learning in every African classroom to address in particular the over 17 million teacher gaps projected by UNESCO for Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030,” she added.
Hence, Ms Osei said the MoU would ensure that regional managers, school inspectors, and heads of schools of the church were not left out in the implementation of the capacity development programmes.
She revealed that Instill Education and the National Teaching Council trained more than 40,000 teachers across the country last year under a MasterCard Foundation funding arrangement and hinted a similar package for this year.
“All we have sought to do therefore is to heed the call of teachers through the development of our innovative Mobile App (Upskill) with offline functionalities to help teachers’ access quality Professional Development materials irrespective of location and internet connectivity challenges.”
“Instill Education hopes to train over 200,000 Ghanaian educators in both the public and private sectors in 2023,” she said.
BY ABIGAIL ARTHUR
