TRANSFORMING PRIVATE SCHOOL EDUCATION IN GHANA THROUGH VIRTUAL EDUCATION. “THE COVID-19 EXPERIENCE" .NATIONAL TRAINING OFFICER FOR PRIVATE SCHOOLS COUNCIL TO THE EDUCATION SECTOR

TRANSFORMING PRIVATE SCHOOL EDUCATION IN GHANA THROUGH VIRTUAL EDUCATION. “THE COVID-19 EXPERIENCE" .NATIONAL TRAINING OFFICER FOR PRIVATE SCHOOLS COUNCIL TO THE EDUCATION SECTOR. Education, especially formal education has over the years under gone a series of transformation to suit the demands of the recipient society. The basic principles the 20th century education emphasises the compliance and conformity over creativity, a skill that is necessary in a professional or corporate environment and to ensure constant job opportunities. The strict implementation of compliance and conformity are now gradually losing it essence but they are still key values in many schools in Ghana, informing policy even when it is not being expressly promoting students. As a result, children, talented in other areas rarely have the opportunity to discover and nurture their talents. Children with broader interests are discouraged rather than being rewarded. This system of allowing all the learners to go through a formal laid down rule in learning, results in a population with similar skill in a narrow spectrum of talents, especially in today’s society, where innovation and creativity are the mainstay of development. Unfortunately, even though the demands of the job market, in terms of skills and knowledge has changed immensely. Most private schools continue to engage their learners, using same educational strategies which were relevant in the 20th century. These include the use of a standardised curriculum rendered through rote learning and standardised testing. This system of education generates a situation where most of the learners are struggling to learn because they are disengaged from their inherent abilities and are not motivated due to the non-practical nature of the teaching and learning process. Lord Tennyson was emphatic on how the Old order should change to yield place to the new order. We should not lose sight of the fact that systems and strategies for doing things are demand driven and time bound. What was the most preferred choice of achieving excellence yesterday, might be irrelevant to the same course tomorrow. The system of education that produced the intellectuals who changed Ghana and the world in the 1960s and the 1970s might not be relevant to the up and coming generation in their quest to achieve relevant skills and competencies needed to make them a meaningful part of tomorrow’s society of intellectuals.

In this times of educational transformation, especially in the light of the 21st century job market, private schools should start thinking about how to evolve their strategies of teaching and learning form to the initially accepted forms to a more formidable ways that will help to unearth and nurture the talents in the children. ‘Change starts in the thoughts’ as educators; we should initiate the change that will help us train the future generation to take up their appropriate place in tomorrow’s world, the use of computing, digitising teaching and learning, for this is the order of the day now! The past 25 years, 1995 and 2020, have seen a dramatic boom in various technologies. These include the internet and other accessories like the smart phones, iPads, smart boards, 3D, television, instagram, music streaming apps and others that enhance sourcing and processing of information in the form of text, videos or pictures. This also play a major role in their learning and meaning making process as they go through the various systems of education. The present generation, due to advanced technology, have a world-wide inter-connectivity. This borderless learning experience offers them the opportunity to encounter and relate to people online from all over the world where they easily make friends on the other side of the planet where they make friends and share ideas without physically meeting each other. In some instances, such relationship has extended to schools, families and even entire communities. As teachers/head teachers and owners of school, do you have the lens to see and understand what the 21st century learning environment should be? It is interesting how some schools still operate in abject ignorance to the characteristics and activities in the digital world and how they influence teaching and learning. Educators should change the way they teach and think to be in line with how the children can discover the world around them and the meaning they can generate for themselves using what they discover. It could be said that a lot of school owners are oblivious of the changing trends in how to educate today’s child. ‘Prevailing conditions, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic demands that we should work at home and from home. This situation insists that “We must learn at home, teach from home and do everything at home, using the available technologies particularly the interne on your phone even the ‘yam’ phone can be used for such purpose’’

NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT (NACCA) Around the mid-2019, National council for Curriculum and Assessment introduced the Standards Based Curriculum for the Pre-tertiary level of education. The curriculum is geared towards the new ways of instructions (creative pedagogies) that will help the students acquire the necessary competencies that will help them nurture the confidence to practice those skills. With so much information readily available to them, the 21st century skills focus more on making sense with the information gathered by interrogating, sharing and using it in smart ways to solve simple to complex problems of the society. The nagging question to private school educator is, whether they understand the import of the Standards Based curriculum with its appropriate instructions to be used in teaching the children of today? If not, then, we are doing a great disservice to the learners in our schools. The children of today need pedagogies that are in tune with the 21st century learning experiences and environment. Unfortunately, in most of our schools, the learning environment and experiences do not help our children of today to think critically. It is an open secret that most of the teachers in our private schools don’t have the desire to become professional teachers in order to train the children to fit into the demands of the 21st century learning and job environment. Such teachers should not be entertained in our schools. To ensure that we train the children of today to take their appropriate positions in the society in future, I will advise all parties in the training of the child, especially along the lines of private school education, to start thinking creatively and critically so as to effect positive change of life in the children to ensure that as a country, we don’t lag behind in terms of development. The private schools must be the forbearers of change in terms of attitudes and behaviour for a better life for the children in our schools. GOVERNMENT OF GHANA. As part of efforts to elevate the teaching and learning atmosphere in Ghana to an internationally accepted level, the government of Ghana has introduced STEM education, Digital and virtual learning among many others. As implementers of government’s policies on education, using the medium of private school education, we have to put in place visionary plan to enable us implement such policies in a way that will be beneficial to the children and attract parents to enrol their children to our schools. Remember that the free education policy will be strengthened from time to time by governments because it is a constitutional provision and incumbent on governments to implement it for the benefit of the Ghanaian child. Currently, most parents are looking for avenues that are either free or affordable and can guarantee a better education for their children. This calls for innovative ways of implementing the 21st century system of teaching and learning at an affordable cost by the private schools if we really want to stay in business. For example, your time table should be redesigned to fit into this 21st century teaching and learning.

GHANA NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS (GNACOPS) The Ghana National Council of Private schools GNACOPS, which is internal regulatory body for private schools that encourages pluralism in education has come out for the first time, with a digital online examination and learning for the private schools in Ghana. As private school educators in times such as these, we have to take advantage of this online system. We should not lose sight of the fact that the government is also taking steps to introduce the same for the children in public schools. The government through the ministry of education, Pre-tertiary department is thinking of collaborating with the Private Schools Council to organise this form of digital learning for all children in the country. The council has also launched PreACT to replace BECE and WASSCE in the country for the private schools, and this programme is online as well, and internationally accepted holistic examination. In the light of all these opportunities, what should we do as owners of private schools in order to sustain your school and business? He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else. My dear reader, let us flow with the tide of change in the teaching and learning arena if we truly want to stay in business! The Ghana National Council of Private Schools, GNACOPS is ever ready to assist private school Directors and owners to know what to do and how to develop their school in line with current educational policies being rolled out worldwide. This will ensure a holistic internationally accepted education for the Ghanaian child. www.gnacopsgh.com Prince Kweku Entsie (GNACOPS) National Training officer, SBC 0502071245 / 0542892450