The candidates, who were expected to demonstrate their knowledge in the areas of the examination, were examined in literacy, numeracy and essential professional skills.

Potential teachers

Out of the number, 4,558 of them were re-sit candidates, with the remaining being fresh entrants at 15 centres throughout the country.

Those who wrote the examination were candidates with Diploma in Basic Education (DBE), Bachelor of Education (B. Ed) or a Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE), M. Ed desirous of seeking employment as teachers with the Ghana Education Service (GES).

A Deputy Minister of Education, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, accompanied by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education; Kwabena Amankwa Asiamah, the Registrar of the National Teaching Council (NTC); Dr Christian Addai-Poku, the Board Chairman of the NTC; Anis Haffar, among others visited the examination centre at the Accra College of Education.

After touring the centre, Rev. Fordjour was excited that the examination was going on smoothly, saying that it was great to see the wide range acceptance of the examination.

He said it had become mandatory for those interested in seeking employment with the GES, saying that it was important for such individuals to sit for professional exams.

“After all this learning and knowledge have been attained, it is important that they sit the professional exams to get certified, just as it is practised among other professionals,” he said.

Rev. Fordjour commended the management of the NTC for developing a portal where those interested in writing the examination could visit to get ideas as to the areas the examination covered.

He was happy that through the portal, the pass rate for the examination had gone up, “we want as many people as possible who had met the standard to pass.

“There are past questions and there are sampled questions in literacy, numeracy and essential skills for those preparing to write the exams and so, as many questions as you will want to try your hands on, you have the opportunity,” Rev. Fordjour said.

He said children were the future of the country and so anyone that was handling their learning should be one that was certified as a professional.

The deputy minister said it was important that those teaching were professional and recalled that every year, Ghanaian teachers were among winners of various professional awards both regional and global.

“This indicates clearly that some of the best teachers we have in the world are the ones we have in Ghana and so we shall continue to be proud of our teachers,” he said.

Professionalism

For his part, Mr Asiamah said just like in all professional bodies, teachers too needed to sit for the professional examination after successfully passing their college examinations.

He said those individuals who passed the licensure exams were certified as qualified professional teachers capable of teaching and teaching well.

Mr Asiamah said holding a certificate to certify that a teacher was a professional motivated him or her to give of his or her best.

He described the licensure examination as the best yardstick for professionalism to enable the teacher to be confident in the classroom.