The Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA), a UNESCO Category II Centre of Excellence for West Africa at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) will on January 14, 2023, commence its Certification in Educational Administration Programme with 175 students.
This programme is the first in the series of Certification programmes IEPA intends to roll out for the 175 students who are pre-tertiary private school teachers and head teachers situated in different parts of the country.
It would be recalled that based on the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, many especially those in the private sector lost their jobs.
As a result, government established the National Unemployment Insurance Scheme and Training and Retraining program in 2022 to cushion such persons to preserve and upgrade their skills and the human capital to facilitate their re-entry into productive employment.
According to Professor Mrs. Marie Efua Baah Bakah, who is in charge of Professional Development Programmes at the IEPA in UCC, the IEPA sent a proposal to the ministry of finance to run certified programs and it was accepted.
Speaking to ATL FM NEWS during an orientation programme held for the enrolled students, Professor Mrs. Bakah indicated that as part of their training, they will be prepared on how they can help their respective schools to be resilient during emergency situations.
She said “We want our schools to be resilient, to be effective and efficient, and therefore the pre-tertiary educational institutions being brought in here, their leadership is being trained under the certification program to be able to run their schools efficiently. And of course, the attitudes and practices of the school environment come in key here.
“The objective actually is to advance knowledge in leading their private schools and further learning what it takes to be an educational administrator. We also want them to be able to devise plans to enhance the operations of their educational institutions and determine effective ways to finance and fund their institutions and be able to demonstrate the ability to apply public policy and politics to ensure the efficient operation of the educational institution,” she added.
She further noted that the new students are going to be assessed based on their background by engaging them in mini projects that will help them identify problems, and challenges in their school settings and develop solutions to them.
Prof. Mrs. Bakah indicated that facilitation which will run to the end of March 2023 will be mostly online and over the weekends for a maximum of 4 hours on both Saturdays and Sundays.
She said the certification programmes are intended to equip the students to work professionally in their various fields and will focus on any qualification the students have and not degree.
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Source: Rosemond Asmah/ATLFMNEWS
