Kumasi, Dec.19, GNA - Miss Lydia Osei, Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) in-charge of Management Services, has cautioned district directors of education and circuit supervisors against putting impediments in the way of pupil teachers in their districts who have enrolled to participate in the Untrained Teacher Training Diploma in Basic Education (UTTDBE) programme. She said the GES would not tolerate any act that could frustrate the trainees of the programme and warned that any circuit supervisor caught extorting unapproved monies from the trainees would be sanctioned. Miss Osei was speaking at the induction of over 800 UTTDBE course for pupil teachers at the Wesley College (WESCO) Centre in Kumasi on Monday.

The UTTDBE is a four-year distance education programme aimed at training the pupil teachers to obtain diploma in basic education. Currently, there are about 24,000 untrained teachers serving in public basic schools throughout the country. She said the GES attached greater importance to the programme, which sought to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the underserved communities in the country. Miss Osei said the programme would also assist all serving untrained teachers in public schools to have access to professional teacher training to enable them have grasp of intended outcomes of their training activities and skills to monitor, diagnose and provide appropriate equal opportunities to all pupils. She urged stakeholders in the programme to make sacrifices to ensure the success of the programme.

Miss Osei appealed to district assemblies and NGOs to assist the trainees financially to enable them complete the course. She advised the participants to take the course seriously to upgrade themselves on the academic ladder. Mr B.F Anyan, Principal of WESCO, advised the participants to be more committed and work seriously to complete the course. He urged them to obey all school rules and regulations and comport themselves while on campus.