The five-day programme which is ongoing is expected to end on January 7, 2023.

Organised by the Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) in Accra and sponsored by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the training and re-training would focus on two areas; leadership training and the common core programme of the Ghana Education Service.

Other supporting partners are the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MoELR) and Organised Labour and Employment Associations

During the programme, proprietors of schools would be trained in curriculum development, educational governance, school finance and management while teachers would receive training in common core programmes in relation to the new educational curriculum.

The Head of the International and Regional Economic Policy Unit under the Economic Strategy and Research Division of the MoF, Enoch Obeng-Darko, noted that the development of the training programme was against the backdrop of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on private schools in the country.

“This is the call against the backdrop of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 during which we had those who were formally in the educational sector in terms of teaching within both the public and private sector,” he said.

“We are also aware that government even initiated certain programmes which supported the public educational teachers. But we were also informed that the private sector in terms of those who owned schools and teachers suffered adversely from the pandemic.”

“It is against this backdrop that government met with its social partners to see how best it could put in place a mechanism to support the private education sector and the hospitality industry,” he added.

Teaching capacity

According to Obeng-Darko, a similar programme was being held by different educational institutions across the country to help build the teaching capacity of teachers and school owners.

For his part, the Executive Director of GNACOPS, Enoch Kwesi Gyetuah, said the leadership programme afforded private school owners the opportunity to establish a long lasting partnership with the MoF in the area of capacity enhancement which would lead to optimal productivity.

He further explained that supervisors from the University of Education, Winneba, Trade Union Congress (TUC), National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) and other institutions would be present to monitor the programme.