The Management of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Education Unit (AMEU) schools in the Upper East Region has advised Head teachers of the Unit to build their knowledge and capabilities to enable them stay relevant in the teaching profession.
Mr Hamid Abdul-Wahab Adam, Acting Regional Manager of the AMEU who gave the advice when he facilitated, a day’s workshop on the topic “Teacher Professional Development and Portfolio build up” in Bolgatanga.
He said building capacity was critical for teachers, especially Heads because “It is the way to go, you should be active to build your capabilities. You cannot be a stagnant Head teacher,” He stressed.
The workshop, which brought together all 17 Head teachers across the Teaching Islam (T.I) Ahmadiyya Schools in the North East and Upper East Regions, offered them the opportunity to learn and share best practices in their respective schools.
The Head teachers were also schooled on key educational reforms, “This workshop is very important because it will help you improve on the performance of your teachers, students and help build the nation that we all want,” he said.
Mr Adam, who is also the Head teacher of the T. I Ahmadiyya Junior High School in Bolgatanga, said if Head teachers spent time to build their capabilities, they would be able to effectively manage their respective schools.
That, he said would translate into the academic performances of pupils in schools and indicated that records show that T.I Ahmadiyya schools were among top schools in academic performances across the various Districts in the two Regions.
He said teachers in rural communities should not be discouraged but gain experience and work to upgrade themselves just as their colleagues in urban centres.
Mr Adam further implored Head teachers to build good rapport with parents of pupils in their schools, explaining that “In the curricula, we have the school, the parents, the learners and the government, and so these key stakeholders cannot be separated.”
He noted that parents were key stakeholders in education as teacher dealt directly with pupils and their parents, and said parents as stakeholders, contributed to the training of pupils as they stayed longer with them at home.
“Note that in school, pupils spend about seven or eight hours, while at home, they spend more hours, and so teachers need to build very good rapport with parents to support their children to excel,” Mr Adam added
Some of the Head teachers shared experiences that affect performance of some their colleagues such as alcoholism among some teachers, and according to Mr Adam though the schools were established by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, not every manager of the schools was an Ahmadi, and urged Head teachers to manage them and not request their dismissal from the schools.
He said the AMEU continued to pray, counsel, and encourage such teachers to desist from alcoholism to enable them to put in their best in the classrooms to uplift the academic performances in the schools.
Mr Karim Abdulai Issahaque, the Chairman of the School Management Committee (SMC) of the AMEU in the two Regions, stressed the need for children to be given proper training in both their academic and moral life.
He reiterated the importance of Head teachers to upgrade their knowledge and skills to lead and encourage teachers to also build their capabilities to enable them professionally to train and shape pupils to be responsible citizens.