As part of its mandate to mentor Colleges of Education, the Institute of Education, University of Cape Coast has rolled out a number of training workshops all categories of staff in the various colleges.
The first College to benefit from such training workshop is Berekum College of Education in the Brong Ahafo Region, where Heads of Department were taken through a two-day training.
The programme was aimed at educating participants on their responsibilities, promoting the growth of their respective departments, marketing the departments, amongst others.
Opening the workshop, the Principal of the College, Mr. Yaw Adjei-Sarkodie, expressed gratitude to the University of Cape Coast in general and the Institute of Education in particular for showing interest in the development of the human resource of the Colleges. He noted that with the upgrade of the Colleges to tertiary status, it was expected that the structures and activities of the Colleges conformed to standards of the National Accreditation Board (NAB) and the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE)
Speaking at the function, the immediate past Director of Human Resource, Dr. Kwaku Gyasi Badu, said that it was the duty of Heads of Department to organise teaching programmes, maintain acceptable standards of teaching, ensure that adequate facilities are available for teaching and research. He said heads were expected to review academic programmes and also introduce new programmes as and when necessary, ensure accreditation of all programmes in consultation with the National Accreditation Board as and when necessary, liaise with other academic divisions of the College and other Colleges, link with Industry, professional bodies, associations and similar bodies on matters affecting the Department in consultation with the Departmental Board, among others.
On promoting the growth of the department, Dr. Gyasi Badu noted that academic excellence was key; adding that “people would want to associate themselves with a department where students were performing creditably. He appealed to the Heads of Department to encourage their staff to take advantage of programmes, courses and workshops to improve their professional and academic competencies.
A senior lecturer at the Institute of Education, Mr. Nicholas K. Kutor who also spoke about “Making a Difference” said Promoting the visibility of the Department was a key factor in tertiary institution. He said this could be achieved by maintaining adequate number of students; cultivating the spirit of belongingness and also promoting and marketing the department.
The Institute of Education which has over the years supervised both private and public CoE has outlined a number of workshops to help build the capacity of staff, strengthen governance and structures of the colleges to enable them meet the standards of tertiary education. It is envisaged that such training workshops would be frequently organised at the national, regional and zonal levels for the colleges.