Accra, Dec. 14, GNA- The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and the Ghana Education Service are sorting out some details to enable four private teacher training colleges in the country gain full accreditation to train teachers.

Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, the sector Minister, said his Ministry was also looking at the possibility of giving students of these private colleges the same allowances enjoyed by their counterparts in the public sector.

The Minister said this in Parliament on Tuesday when the House reconvened for the last session of the Third Parliament after it had adjourned early November to make way for the general elections. Mr Baah-Wiredu said the admission requirement for both private and public Teacher Training Colleges were the same.

He, however, said the upgrading of private teacher training colleges into diploma awarding institutions depended on these colleges satisfying minimum standards established in a document titled, " Guidelines on the Establishment of Private Teacher Training Colleges."

He said the Ministry "has upgraded only the programme being offered in public teacher training colleges to diploma status with certification undertaken by the University of Cape Coast."

The Minister was responding to a question on the Ministry's policy on teacher training in general and private teacher training in particular in respect of admission requirement, accreditation, certification and remuneration.

Mr Baah-Wiredu said persons interested in establishing private teacher training colleges should go through a process of accreditation before admitting students.

In a related development, the Minister said a two-storey administration block of the Odorgonno Secondary School in Accra awarded for construction in 1999, at a cost of 320 million cedis was being converted to a school library, staff common room and a bookshop. He said this was as a result of some worries expressed by the school authorities about the project "was too close to the classrooms". The Minister said a new administration block was therefore agreed upon and work was progressing on it.

Mr Ernest Armah, NDC-Ga South, had asked about efforts being made to complete the construction of the administration block of the school. Before the commencement of Public Business, the Speaker, Mr Peter Ala Adjetey, congratulated Members of Parliament who had retained their seats and consoled those who lost.

He said arrangements were being made to have a proper "end of service ceremony to crown their efforts". 14 Dec 04