The Institute of Education Studies (IFEST) has called on the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to strengthen employee welfare and support system and modernize them to meet the challenging needs of teachers in these COVID-19 times.
According to the institute, a report which contains the findings and recommendations of their latest research titled, “Teaching in the midst of the pandemic, a focus on the Ghanaian teacher”, 75.7 percent of teachers have been affected psychologically due to the pandemic.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with ATLFMNEWS, the Acting Executive Director of the Institute, Peter Anti believes particular psychological attention, should be given to teachers.
“We undertook this study basically because we realized that teachers have been ignored during this pandemic. You will see that all efforts that were put in place during this period have been student centered but we forgot to note that whatever issue the student will go through is being led by the teacher. That is why based on our research findings we are entreating the GES, the teacher union and even parents to also take a small break and look at the welfare issues that are pertaining to teachers such as their mental stability and peace so that they will be able to focus on the work that they are supposed to do.”
He also urged the Ghana Education Service to put in measures to improve the school environment to make them stress-free for teaching.
“if you listen to our respondents, cutting across was the issue provision of PPEs that seemed to be lacking within their environment and that is why we were saying that if you are going to ensure that the teacher has a free mind to concentrate on his teaching, then you will have to provide the teacher with the needed teaching and learning resources,” he said.
Source: ATLFMNEWSROOM
